Go ahead -- ask for something material

"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone who asks receives; everyone who seeks finds; and to those who knock it shall be opened." Luke 11:9-10

Here's a news flash: you already have all the love, peace, joy, and abundance that you could ever imagine! It's your birthright as a magnificent, divine child of God. All you have to do is choose these things. Just claim them. They are already yours. If you are not experiencing one or more of them, it's only because you're not choosing them. You don't have to ask for them.

So when it comes to asking, ask for something material. Why not? You have everything else!

Easy is always best

"Nothing you want is upstream." Abraham

I've been thinking about my assumption that it is easy to hold costs in line, expand your menus, and eat really well. For me, easy is always best. I've done my share of struggling in life, so I know what that's about. And it's just so much easier to relax into the flow of life. My assumption is that being in the flow of life is aligning with Spirit and my highest good. Life wasn't meant to be a struggle.

In my late teens I made the conscious decision NOT to pursue a career in music -- because music was easy! Music was my passion, and I thought that because it came easily to me that it couldn't possibly be my path. You see, my assumption was that anything worth doing required hard work and struggle. That's not to say that I didn't practice and study a lot. I did. But it wasn't hard work. It was challenging but it wasn't a struggle.

I have continued to study and to perform occasionally, and it is a joy for me. I've learned to allow that creative, expressive part of me to come forth in song, and in other modes of communication, such as writing, teaching, and speaking. And there's an incredible blessing in this. Looking through the eyes of Spirit I recognize that I am a communicator and that there are MANY ways to allow Spirit to pour forth through me.

In this knowing I find my divine purpose.

I love what Edwene Gaines says on the subject of finding your divine purpose in her terrific book The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity (page 198). Look at the ease in this!

"The easiest way to make a plan up is to ask yourself, "What would be the most fun thing I could do with my life?" And THAT is your divine purpose.

I'll say it again: Earth is the party planet. We are here to have fun. If you aren't having fun with your life, you're not doing it right. The era of the Christian martyr is over. And what I want you to know about me is that you can totally count on me to be part of the party."

And on the next page:

"There are some people in your life who don't know who you are. And you can't allow them to stop you from doing what you are here on Earth to do. You are on a divine mission, and you cannot be derailed."

And you? Have you found your divine purpose? Are you allowing it to be easy -- and fun? You ARE divine, you know, so of course you are on a divine mission.

How perfect! It's EZ!

Rattled by current economic turbulance?

"The winds of grace are always blowing; it is for us to raise our sails." Ramakrishna

Andrea Conway says, "Raising our sails = raising our consciousness and remembering our divine origin." Be sure to check out her brilliant post about seeing the blessing in the current economic situation, "Scared about Economic Meltdown? Here's Help."

Remember who you are and what's really going on. You are a divine being and nothing "out there" can disturb the Truth of your Being, which is always well, always whole, and always prosperous. Hold your focus on this Truth and raise your sails to prosper.

Strategy #1: Vegetables Center Stage

Welcome to the Church of the Holy Cabbage. Lettuce pray. ~Author Unknown

Little did I know that rising food prices would be such a super hot topic. Recently I said, "Change your assumptions, learn some new things about food, and I'll bet you'll be surprised at how easy it is to hold costs in line, expand your menus, and eat really well." Numerous people challenged me, saying, "Show me!"

So I'm going to start offering up some ideas for you to try. Test my assumption!

Strategy #1: Shift the focus of your meals to vegetables. Make them the main event. Of course this goes without saying if you are a vegetarian. For those of us who are omnivores, however, this strategy is both healthful and a budget pleaser.

And it's surprisingly easy to move in this direction. You can even do it gradually.

You can also start introducing tasty variations on some old themes to kind of spice things up.

For instance, cabbage is a terrific value. It's inexpensive, versatile, low-cal, and readily available.

According to www.nutritiondata.com, "This food is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin A, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron and Magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Folate, Potassium and Manganese."

Here is a very simple, crowd-pleasing variation on the venerable coleslaw.

Fresh Cabbage Slaw
4-5 C shredded cabbage (one medium-sized cabbage)
1/4 C seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 TBS smoky sesame oil
1 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (instead of salt)

Prep hint: use a mandoline or a nice big Chinese cleaver to cut the cabbage by hand. It's simple, it's easy, and you'll like the results. Just watch your fingers. Blood tends to spoil the slaw.

Prep hint: Keep the proportions basically the same and this recipe will scale up or down very easily.

Serving hint: Line a big bowl with a bed of red leaf lettuce and lay the slaw on it. Garnish if you like with a few edible flowers if you have them, or with a bit of parsley.

Accompaniment hint: It goes well with all kinds of grilled meats.

Added bonus: Because there's no mayonnaise, it keeps well outdoors at picnics and tailgaiting events.

Test this assumption: I'll feel deprived

"I am blessed as the creator of my world. " Bijan

Recently a woman I know was complaining about rising food prices, and how much more it costs now to feed her family of four. She's upset and frustrated by having to pay so much at the checkout for her regular weekly groceries. I asked her a little about what she typically buys and what kinds of adjustments she's making to hold her budget in line with her family's plan. She gave some examples, such as buying less expensive cuts of meat. I said I thought I could cut her spending in half. "But I don't want to feel deprived!" she wailed.

"How interesting," I thought. She assumes that if she can't eat the way she currently does that she'll feel deprived. That's her truth. I told her that it's possible that she would never feel deprived. Just by expanding her sense of what's good and pleasing she could slash her grocery budget. And expanding her horizons to offer new experiences to her family could be a delightful pleasure for all of them.

Now, I acknowledge that if we compare food prices today to those of just a year ago we'll see the fact that food prices have risen. All I'm saying is that that's one of many bits of information in a much larger context. How about that idea this could be a fabulous opening into understanding that what we experience is directly related to our assumptions?

Imagine the joy of being a food adventurer!

Personally, I know that I can create delicious, appealing, nourishing, healthful meals for a fraction of what most people spend. And I never feel deprived! Neither do the people who eat meals I serve.

What's my secret? For starters, I assume that there is a great abundance of pleasing choices and that I will make something wonderful with them. I put great emphasis on fresh, colorful vegetables and delicious ways to flavor them -- and beautiful ways to present them. I love and appreciate food and the dining experience.

I also realize that I have a "kitchen orientation" by choice, and that I have thought about it and played with food for more than 30 years.

Many people, like my struggling friend, have not chosen this kitchen orientation. They've focused on other things. That's great! We live in an era in which we have tremendous freedom to choose.

And, as always, whenever we face a new challenge, we can be sure that it's a golden opportunity to change assumptions about how things have to be in order to thrive -- or even just to be okay.

Struggle you may, but you don't have to push against rising food prices. Change your assumptions, learn some new things about food, and I'll bet you'll be surprised at how easy it is to hold costs in line, expand your menus, and eat really well. Try it. See how much fun it can be!

You ARE blessed as the creator of your world.

Croak off the old. Give birth to the new

Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2

All of our experience is conditioned by what we think, believe, love, and expect. We live from the feelings and the ideas about all that we assume to be true for us. That's why thinking about what we want, what we desire, is really just wishful thinking. We're outside of it, looking at it from afar. We're longing -- and experiencing the distance between where we are and where we want to be.

When we life from the feeling and ideas of the change we want, we assume the new truth and manifest it into experience.

So if you're ready to transform some aspect of your life, croak off your old way of thinking, believing, being. Let it go. And begin giving birth to the new. Renovate, renew your thinking. Live from a new set of assumptions and expectations.

Test what I'm saying. Start small so you can prove it to yourself. Remember, you're responsible.

Keep the receiving channels open

God gives freely. It is for us to keep the receiving channels open.
Myrtle Fillmore

Myrtle Fillmore is one of the great lights who help us understand who we are as spiritual beings living in a spiritual universe having a spiritual experience here on earth. She was a wonderful power of example, demonstrating the Truth of the Christ presence in her life.

I recommend her to you. Start with her book How to Let God Help You.

You're responsible. Harsh? Not a bit!

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

I've heard loud protests from people over the years who challenge the idea that "If you don't like your life, you're responsible." "That's so harsh!" they say.

Is it? Or is it simply an expression of Divine Law, always present, always the same? It's just a very direct way to say that the cause of conditions in your life is not "out there" in the weather, the economy, or what other people do or don't do. It's within you, in your very own conscious awareness.

To create new circumstances or experiences in your life, change your consciousness. It's up to you. Nobody can do it for you.

Far from being harsh, "You're responsible" is the perfect order of the universe in which we live. And here is a wonderful secret: when we pray "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" we are calling forth our awareness of Divine Law and affirming our willingness to align with it in our own consciousness. With this understanding we take responsibility for living in harmony with fundamental Truth.

This Truth is no more harsh than gravity or magnetism or electricity. It just is. And when you realize this, you can see that you have the choice to align with it or to resist it. To get in the flow of life or to swim upstream against it. To let go and let God or assume that Divine Law doesn't apply to you.

So when I say, "If you don't like your life, you're responsible" I'm challenging you to put down the struggle, stop swimming against the current, and quit spinning your wheels making up your own rules to try to override Divine/Universal Law.

You're responsible. It's the easier, gentler way.

Check your assumptions

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7: 7-8

What have you been asking for? Consciously or unconsciously we're all asking all the time. What's showing up in your life is exactly what you've been asking for. Always. You're responsible. If you like it, great. If you don't, the good news is that you can change your assumptions and ask for something different.

Check your assumptions. It's easy.

If you don't like your job, you're responsible.
If you don't like your marriage, you're responsible.
If you don't like your bank balance, you're responsible.
If you don't like how people treat you, you're responsible.

Check your assumptions now. What are you calling forth?

You're responsible.

No more "push mode"

"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." Genesis 32:26

Your good already exists -- and it is just a shift in knowing that will reveal it. As hard as you try you cannot force it. All you can do is allow it. Allow it to be revealed to you. And receive it.

Several years ago when I was struggling to expand sales in my business, I consulted with a terrific coach in Albuquerque named Judy Katz. She gently coaxed me down off the wall I was climbing and asked me to consider an alternative to working more and working harder.

What? What about a strong work ethic? What about harder, faster, more-more-more? What about intense focus and burning the midnight oil? What about "no pain no gain"?

What she showed me was that I could stop pushing and start letting my good pull me through to it. How do we do this? Imagine the desired state or circumstance and assume the feeling of having already achieved it. This shift in perspective opens the way where there was no way. It guides the actions we take and pulls us through to our desired end state.

Actually, we do this all the time without realizing it. It's our assumptions that bring us all of our life experiences, without exception.

Recognize that it's easy to assume what those around us assume unless we consciously choose otherwise. It's easy to slip back into the push-hard-in-order-to-achieve framework. In fact, it's often quite challenging to choose a different direction from the rest of the world. But the funny thing is that when we release our grip on push mode and choose to allow ourselves to be pulled through, we find that we get right into the flow of our own good.

It's easy and it's way more fun! I know the truth of this now from personal experience.

As Law of Attraction Coach Andrea Conway says, this isn't about just sitting back practicing wishful thinking. Action is required. It's just that it's guided action

The hardest work, after choosing what you really want, is holding your vision in your imagination. Let Jacob be your model of persistence. He wouldn't let go until he received a blessing from God. Hold fast to the assumption of your desired state .

For the Joy of it All

Everything is here to bless me.

Imagine. Everything is here to bless me. It's just a simple shift in perception. Maybe not an easy one, but a simple one, nonetheless. And it's true for all of us. When we can see everything as a blessing we get in the flow of all good coming our way.

When we choose not to see everything as a blessing -- and we push against what we don't like or don't want -- we make life harder. We step out of the flow and say "no" to God's love pouring through us.

Try it as an experiment for the next 7 days. Be willing to everything as a blessing.

Let me know what you discover.

Joseph -- Faithful Steward in Each of Us

Transcript of September 3, 2006 Message at:
Unity Church of Central Massachusetts (www.unityccm.org)
Christine Macfarlane

This is Labor Day Weekend. It’s the traditional end of summer, kids are back to school, and the weather is still good for cooking out or going to the Davis Farm MegaMaze (which is AMAZING, by the way, in case you haven’t been there.) And in the not-so-long-ago past, it also signaled the time to put away white shoes.

Labor Day celebrates working people’s contributions to society. It’s such a good opportunity to pause and reflect on our accomplishments and the ways our work makes a difference to ourselves, our families, and to our wider spheres of influence. And actually it’s an excellent time to think about where we’re headed, what we want to accomplish next, what old thoughts to heave out because they don’t serve us any more, and what we want to learn.

Our topic today takes its cue from the story of Joseph in Genesis. Joseph himself was a working man, wasn’t he? When his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt he proved to be an excellent and completely reliable manager – a faithful steward -- for Potiphar, for the prison warden, and for Pharaoh himself.

So what does it mean to be a steward anyway? A caretaker, someone who’s in charge of someone else’s business affairs or the household affairs of a large estate, or someone who’s responsible for looking after the well being of something important.

Truthfully, I think the words steward and stewardship have been so overworked by their overuse in church fundraising that they’re almost not words we can use in church any more. I’m sure that those of you who came to Unity from mainline churches know exactly what I mean. Stewardship is a word that’s burdened with obligation, guilt-tripping, and nonsense about fair-share giving to meet the church’s budget. Actually, it’s not just in churches that you’ll hear this sort of appeal. Environmental groups and others often do fundraising the same way.

In my own experience, in churches before I came to Unity, I dreaded “pledging” time, but I didn’t quite know why. I just knew it felt terrible. So I decided to get into the middle of it to see what it was all about. And actually it was as the Chair of the Stewardship Committee of my church that I had a MAJOR spiritual awakening. Our committee invited a stewardship mentor from the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ to come to help us. And in that experience I had a revelation.

I saw that the standard practice of fundraising in churches was about the need of the church to receive. It wasn’t a bit spiritual at all. It was very worldly, in fact.

What a missed opportunity! I mean, sure a church has a budget and needs money to pay the minister, the light bill, the heat, the rent and so on, But a church isn’t just a club or a social group, or a secular organization that does good in the world – like the Red Cross or WGBH or Mass Audubon. They have worldly missionz, and their fundraising expresses a worldly consciousness. Good for them. That fits. But churches exist to support people’s SPIRITUAL development. Why abdicate that responsibility when talking about stewardship when there’s a much bigger opportunity to talk about stewardship in spiritual terms?

Now all y’all who know me know that I’m a big fan of the Bible. I believe it to be the ultimate textbook for how to live life. That’s why I love our Sunday morning Bible study.

Our metaphysical approach to interpreting the Bible looks at the ultimate reality beyond the physical realm, beyond the obvious, literal level of the story. The stories and the characters represent aspects of us in various stages of conscious awareness. We all are capable of everything we read that people do and are in the Bible.

So now that I’ve done my rant on the meaning of the word steward, let’s talk about the story in the Bible about Joseph, and consider how he was a faithful steward. And just what can we learn from Joseph for our own lives?

Joseph represents in us the state in consciousness that brings us INCREASE – in understanding, in vitality, and in substance. A major attribute of Joseph is the faculty of imagination. The magnificent coat his father gave him, the coat of many colors, stands for that faculty. It’s a pretty safe bet that Joseph was indulged by his parents. He was a prince among his brothers.

Remember that he was his father Jacob’s favorite son, the first child of Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel. He was blessed with the great love of his parents, who represent the balance of the best in natural man and natural woman.

Imagination is a very powerful faculty. Our ability to imagine is the ability to rise above worldly “reality” and the limitations of our physical eyes. By following the inspiration of Spirit and seeing with Spiritual sight, we connect with the Light of Truth. We can control the imagination and direct its work to practical ends. And yet, in our early stages of realizing what imagination can mean to us, our other faculties try to belittle it, to destroy it. Ah, the impatience of the intellect with anything that’s not rational and linear! In the story Joseph’s older brothers poo poo his imagination and his dreaming, putting them down as visionary and impractical.

So what do they do? The get rid of him. They sell him into slavery in Egypt. Now Egypt represents the darkness of sense consciousness. But Joseph holds true to his Spiritual Sight. How do we know that?

The Bible tells us that God is with Joseph. Well, what does that mean?

It means – help me out here: God is good all the time. All the time God is good.

Charles Fillmore, co-founder of the Unity Movement says in his wonderful book, Mysteries of Genesis (p 308), “God prospers us when we give the best that is in us and do all things unto Him, acknowledging Him in all our affairs. This is a sure way to success, and when success does come we should realize that it resulted from the work of Spirit in us, because we made ourselves channels through which the Christ Mind could bring its ideas into manifestation. The true Christian never boasts that he is a self-made man, for he well knows that all that he is and has, together with all that he can ever hope to be or to have, is but God finding expression through him as life.”

Here’s what it says in Genesis 39, “After Joseph had been taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelites, Potiphar an Egyptian, one of Pharaoh’s officials and the manager of his household, bought him from them.

As it turned out, God was with Joseph and things went very well with him. He ended up living in the home of his Egyptian master. His master recognized that God was with him saw that God was working for good in everything he did. He became very fond of Joseph and made him his personal aide. He put him in charge of all his personal affairs, turning everything over to him. From that moment on, God blessed the home of the Egyptian – all because of Joseph. The blessing of God spread over everything he owned, at home and in the fields, and all Potiphar had to concern himself with was eating three meals a day.”

The story of Joseph is not without trials. Joseph gets in several big jams. But because Joseph is true to his connection with God, Spirit moves in him and prospers him.

Psalm 24 tells us “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.” As we say in Unity: It’s all good and it’s all God. All of it. Us, too. We are God’s people – each of us is a beloved child of God -- and that’s how each of us gets the role of steward of the gifts God has given us.

And how funny is it? Humans are the only creatures with free will. We can choose to squander our gifts – or worse, to deny them. I mean, have you ever known a tree or a flower or a dog or cow to say to itself, “Well, that’s about all I want to grow. This growing business… it’s too much work. I’m good enough already.” NO! They grow and flourish to the fullest extent possible, expressing exactly what’s theirs to express.

The Joseph in us is willing to do that, too. Like Joseph, we can listen for the still small voice of God’s spirit within – and then follow that inner direction, living life from the within out, just as Joseph did with that wonderful faculty, imagination, disciplined for good.

We are prospered to the degree that we align ourselves with our highest good. I call it tuning in to WGOD, the Presence of God in our lives. When we do this we flourish as Joseph did, no matter what.

Let’s close with this beautiful affirmation from Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of the Unity Movement: “I, too, will arise and go to my Father and receive His love and wisdom and blessing. I now behold His kingdom, His riches, and His unfailing life pouring through me and manifesting for all my needs.”

And so it is. Amen.

WCDT Interview Transcript -- It's ALL about Love

Today I was privileged to be Carol Barstad's guest on WCDT radio in Tennessee. Carol is a nurse who is devoted to helping people get back on track with their health and weight with the USANA RESET Kit and Dr. Ray Strand's Healthy for Life Program. She is particularly focused on "diobesity," the term coined recently to address the problems many people are facing with diabetes and obesity, as well as related chronic diseases such as heart disease.

Carol (CB) and Christine’s (CM) Radio Conversation -- It's ALL about Love

CB: This morning I'd like to introduce Christine Macfarlane, a colleague of mine, and a wonderful friend. Christine has helped many people get started on the RESET program. She’s certified in the Healthy for Life program, as I am, and she is passionate about helping people love life and live it to the fullest.

I’ve invited her to join us today to talk about that -- loving life, loving ourselves, and loving our families -- and how love relates to our health. Welcome, Christine.

CM: Thank you so much for inviting me, Carol. And hi, Karen, it’s a pleasure to be here with you. I’ve really enjoyed hearing your other programs and I admire the work that you are doing, showing people that they CAN be well – there IS a way to reclaim our health -- and our waistlines.

I’m just so honored to be here with you two wonderful ladies today.

CB: So tell me, Christine -- what’s love got to do with it?

CM: You know, Carol, I believe that love has everything to do with everything, including our health and well being. When we take care of ourselves and our families with love in our hearts it’s easy for us to think clearly about what’s best. We make good choices. And we honor each other as the beautiful Children of God that we are.

CB: Well, what do you mean exactly, Christine? Do you have some examples for us?

CM: You bet. Here’s my message in a nutshell. You know that expression “God don’t make no junk?” Well, if that’s true … we best not be eatin’ no junk FOOD.

I like to say, “I am the hands and feet and heart of God in the world. I’m how God gets around.” We all are.

Not only that … think about it -- we are lovingly and wondrously made. Our creator endowed our bodies with intelligence in each cell to be exactly what it’s supposed to be – just imagine how amazing this is!

So truly our bodies are temples of the spirit of God’s love for us.

And if this is true, and I believe it is, when we abuse our bodies in any way we risk defiling our temple. And defiling includes eating foods that are not the best for us. It’s a daily thing, isn’t it, this eating thing. We can choose several times a day at mealtimes and snack times whether to love and honor our bodies and our ability to be God’s love in the world – or not.

When we are filled with the Spirit of Love we want what’s best for ourselves and our families. We have free will. We are free to choose whether we will be on the side of love or the side of defilement.

You know what I call making bad food choices? I call it “eating to endanger.”

CB: That’s a pretty powerful message, Christine.

CM: Yes, and it’s pretty simple, too, isn’t it? When we’re awake to knowing who we really are – and WHOSE we really are -- it changes our understanding forever, doesn’t it? We just have to remember every day and act accordingly.

Let me tell you a little bit about my experience in talking with people about the loving themselves enough to make the lifestyle changes that could get them back on track with health and well being. And how the USANA Reset program could be just what they need to get started.

We know so many people, don’t we, whose families are ravaged by serious disease -- heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, in particular. As you’ve pointed out in past programs, Carol, these problems are largely preventable. And in many cases we can actually reverse the conditions and restore better health. We are responsible … responsible for taking care of ourselves and our loved ones.

Carol, you’ve done such a wonderful job of talking about the big problem we have in our country with overweight and obesity and the health problems that come with them. And we read about it in the papers and hear about it on the radio and TV all the time.

As I’ve talked with people over the past few years I’ve noticed that some people who are off the track weight-wise are ready and willing to try something new, and some people would rather just complain about their situation. It’s like people keep two lists, their “gripe list” and their “change list,” and until something moves onto the change list people are just going to gripe. That’s another way of saying they’re not ready yet to wake up to the truth of who they are – and WHOSE they are – and the fullness of health that’s available to them.

I’m totally okay with that, too. I love them no matter where they are in their understanding, and I’m here to help them if and when they’re ready.

I’m not saying that the USANA Reset program is the only solution to the problem, either. I’m just saying that it’s a simple, easy-to-do program that gives your body a break from what’s known as the “Standard American Diet,” also known as “the SAD diet.” It’s a diet made up of too much white flour, white sugar, too much saturated fat, and just too much, too much in general. Huge portions. Pizza, burgers, cola, and that sort of thing. I love it that you can stay on Reset as long as you want to and enjoy big benefits. Then you can start introducing wholesome foods a little at a time. As you’ve emphasized, Carol it’s a lifestyle change that helps people get back on track with their health – and it has the great side effect of long term weight loss.

CB: Christine, do you have a theory about why people eat to endanger?

CM: Well, as I mentioned, I think that many people just are not awake to their own good. They don’t realize what they’re doing. Even though there’s so much information out there, there’s kind of a disconnect for them. People like what the world says is easy and what’s available. More than that, though, I think people see other people are eating carelessly -- and advertising is plenty hype-y -- and so it seems like being a part of the fast-food nation is where it’s at. It’s what’s “normal” – by worldly standards.

CB: The thing is, it’s no mystery that there’s a direct link between the SAD diet and the major health problems we’re experiencing.

CM: Right. Let me ask you, Carol -- have you ever been crabbing?

CB: No, I can't say that I have.

CM: Well, you know that when you put a bunch of crabs in a bucket they all climb around on each other to try to get out of the bucket. But as soon as one starts getting up high the others pull him right back down again. It feels kind of like that for us when we’re trying to make a change and we’re doing something different from what other people we know are doing. We may believe wholeheartedly that we want to make the change – in this case we’re talking about changing the way we eat and exercise and take care of ourselves and our families – but other people who don’t have the same goals and the same understanding tend to pull us back. In many ways it’s easier to just be another crab in the bucket of crabs. But if we want something better we have to get out of the bucket.

If you are awake to your own good – and on the path of love – you definitely want to get out of that bucket!

One of the excuses I hear often from people who don’t want to change what they eat is “but this is how our family has always done it.” Okay, you know what? That’s great. I appreciate cultural traditions. But here’s a thought: if you care about your family and you know your traditional foods are dangerous to them, is it loving to keep serving them what’s traditional? How ‘bout if you just serve your traditional favorites once a week – say on Sunday -- and make different, more healthful choices for the other days of the week? You’ll preserve and enjoy your cultural traditions AND you’ll give yourselves the gift of better choices 6 out of 7 days of the week. You body will love you for it.

This really jumped out at me last Christmas when I realized that groups of my women friends were gearing up for holiday baking. Talk about a tradition! Gifts of fancy sweets, cookie swaps, sugar plum fairies… most of us were raised with the idea that these are loving gifts. I’m thinking to myself, “Are all these sugary treats really gifts to our families?” Hmmm… maybe they’re not. Maybe we’re contributing to our friends’ and families’ health problems. Sure the cookies, candies, pastries and breads are traditional, but is that a good enough reason to keep making them – and I’m not saying it’s not. Each one of us has to decide this for ourselves.

Just as an aside, though, in the old days, say 50-100 years ago and more, these holiday treats really were treats. People typically didn’t eat sweets all the time, year ‘round the way many people do today.

CB: I see what you’re saying, Christine.

Does that mean then that we should never eat pizza and hamburgers and drink cola drinks, and things like that? Do you eat them?

CM: Sure I do, Carol – I just don’t do it very often. I don’t mean to make all this sort of food sound evil. I don’t think it is. I just think that when we are unconscious about what we’re choosing that we tend to go overboard with these things instead of “eating the rainbow,” if you will. By that I mean eating a wide variety of colors, with a special emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables.

And I confess that I don’t always exercise as much as I could, but I walk a lot. I have two dogs that get me out first thing in the morning every day, rain or shine.

But here’s the thing. It always boils down to this: Are we awake or asleep to our own good? Do we go along with what “the world” says is normal, accepting overweight and obesity, diabetes and heart disease as inevitable? Do we let ourselves get pulled back down into the bucket of crabs? Or are we willing to walk our talk? Are we willing to love one another as we love ourselves – or do we just say that? If we mean it and live by it we have to ask ourselves, “Am I loving myself by eating this? Am I loving my family by serving this?” It’s a simple test. Ask yourself, “Do my meals and snacks pass that test?”

I’ve talked mostly about food today, but I also want to emphasize two other important questions that are part of the whole picture. First: Am I lovingly exercising my body and encouraging my family to engage in fun physical activity? And second: Am I taking my nutritional supplements daily? These round out the plan for wonderful health, such an important part of living life to its fullest.

So, back to the question you asked me in the beginning, Carol. What’s love got to do with it?

When we understand who we are and WHOSE we are, love is all there is.

CB: Thank you for your loving message, Christine. And I know I’m going to remember what you said -- “God don’t make no junk.” And “we best not be eatin’ no junk FOOD.

I Create My Day -- from Dr. Joe Dispenza

One of the very best, most practical, and useful gifts of the movie What the Bleep Do We Know?, is this contribution from Dr. Joe Dispenza. Go forth and create your quantum leaps in life!

I Create My Day
Dr. Joe Dispenza in What the Bleep Do We Know?

"I wake up in the morning, and I consciously create my day the way I want it to happen. Now, sometimes, because my mind is examining all the things that I need to get done, it takes me a little bit to settle down, and get to the point, of where I'm actually intentionally creating my day. But here's the thing."

"When I create my day, and out of nowhere, little things happen that are so unexplainable, I know that they are the process or the result of my creation. And the more I do that, the more I build a neural net, in my brain, that I accept that that's possible. Gives me the power and the incentive to do it the next day."

"So, if we're consciously designing our destiny, if we're consciously, from a spiritual standpoint, throwing in what the idea that our thoughts can affect our reality or affect our life, because reality equals life. Then, I have this little pact that I have when I create my day."

"I say, I'm taking this time to create my day, and I'm infecting the Quantum Field. Now, if it is in fact, the observer's watching me the whole time that I'm doing this, and there is a spiritual aspect to myself. Then, show me a sign today, that you paid attention to any one of these things that I created, and bring them in a way that I won't expect."

"So, I'm as surprised as the- as the- at my ability to be able to experience these things, and make it so that I have no doubt that its come from you. And so, I live my life, in a sense, all day long, thinking about being a genius, or thinking about being the glory and the power of God, or thinking about being Unconditional Love."

"I'll use living as a genius, for example. And as I do that, during parts of the day, I'll have thoughts that are so amazing, that cause a chill in my physical body, that have come from nowhere. But then, I remember that that thought has an associated energy, that's produced an effect in my physical body."

"Now, that's a subjective experience, but the truth is is that I don't think that unless I was creating my day to have unlimited thought, that that thought would come."

White whole grain?

Have you seen the Sara Lee ads for their new whole grain bakery products? They’re speaking such great words about the goodness of whole grain, and at the same time they’re playing up the fact that their products are white. (The one with children is especially curious to me because of the not-so-subtle suggestion that kids especially would of course ONLY like -- and be willing to eat -- white bread.) What in the world is white whole grain?

So I went online to read their exposition on whole grains. Unfortunately, it doesn’t explain how they accomplish the production of white whole grain foods.

So here’s what I wrote to their consumer affairs department:

I've read with interest your information about whole grains and have seen your advertising about whole grain products. My question is this: How do you accomplish the production of WHITE whole grain products? Are you using a new strain of albino grains? Or?

Thanks in advance for your reply,
Christine Macfarlane

My question to y’all is this: If you've seen this advertising what sense do you make of it?

I'll let you know what I hear back from Sara Lee...

What's in YOUR consciousness?

You know that ad on TV that asks "What's in YOUR wallet?" At my prosperity class this week a group presentation concluded with a far better question: "What's in YOUR consciousness?" I like that.

After all, it's the way we think that determines our prosperity in all its dimensions.

So what are you thinking? And what is your thinking creating in your experience? I can tell exactly what's going on in your consciousness and so can you. Just look at what your life is like right now. It's a perfect reflection of what you think and believe. That's good news, really, because if if you like it you can fine tune it, or not, as you please. And if you want something greater to manifest in your life, you can go to work on yourself to change what you think and believe.

How do you get grip on making this kind of change? Start by noticing what you say. Then start monitoring what you say. Then keep working backwards from there. Notice what you say to yourself, your internal conversations. Now you're getting to the heart of the matter. Begin to choose words and engage in conversations that focus on and support what you want your life to be all about.

Think of it this way. Words are seeds that you plant. If you want a different crop, plant different seeds. And nourish them, water them, tend them. Your consciousness is like a garden. It's worth the time, the imagination, and the effort to help it grow and flourish. I guarantee that your results will match your thinking perfectly. They always do.

Big shredder day

Saturday afternoon I stopped by a pet supply store to buy some Greenies for my dogs. The weather was a little drizzly and gray, but there were long lines of people in the parking lot queued up to two big semi trailers. I mean there were 40-50 people there, each toting containers or pushing carts. Being the curious sort that I am, I asked a woman in the line what was going on. She returned an astonished look and replied, "Why, we're bringing paper to be shredded." Like, isn't that what every responsible person does on a Saturday afternoon?

I just smiled and said, "Oh, I see." But I didn't, really. I started trying to imagine... what on earth would motivate people to save huge quantities of paper to bring to a collection site like this?

First of all, how hard is it to get an inexpensive cross-cut shredder for home use. I got one at Costco for $20 and it works perfectly.

Second. It strikes me as a collosal waste of perfectly good time. Hey, drizzle or no, it was Saturday. Why hang out in a parking lot with several tons of paper and a couple of trailers? And it was slow going, too. A woman who seemed to be some sort of official was going down the line telling people that another truck would be coming from Stockton and it would be arriving in about an hour. And people were going to WAIT!

Besides, it's not like the city neglects the concept of recycling. We just have to put our recyclables out and trucks come by to collect.

So, this shredder event must have been a major priority for all these people. It's just fascinating to me. I'm still thinking about it today and it's Thursday. I wish I'd thought to call my friend Pamela to come over to sell Identity Theft plans!

I'm reminded that from broader perspective life truly is an enormous banquet table, fabulously laden with all manner of choices. People can choose exactly what they want, and I can too. It's all good.

Breast cancer -- it's just a cosmic 2X4

Whenever we don't learn from the lessons life presents us, we get another chance. Situations and people show up to help us on our way. Resist or avoid the lesson, do a geographical cure, or insist on standing in a place of victimhood, blaming something "out there" for what's happening to us, and guess what? The lesson keeps re-appearing. And it intesifies to get our attention. It's no accident. It's your current life lesson. Learn it and move on, or it will amplify and come back as a cosmic 2X4.

Because I'm a breast cancer "victoria" (some people call themselves survivors, some claim to be victors, and I'm a female victor, so that makes me a victoria), people often invite me to speak for breast cancer fund raisers and to walk in solidarity on breast cancer walks. I seldom do it because while I think it's noble to raise money to fund research, I'm far more interested in a much larger perspective. The fund raising tends to focus on "fighting the fight for a cure" and in my experience it tends to involve a good deal of hand wringing, weepin' and wailin', and generalized focus on the problem.

What I know is that we can't solve the problem at the level at which we created it.

Now what does that mean in terms of breast cancer?

The cosmic 2X4 message is to wake up to our own good, to release the illusion of anything "out there" creating the problem. The reality is that we create it and it's a form of self destruction.

I have two recommendations for sources to explore on this topic.

First, check out what Louise Hay says in her classic book You Can Heal Your Life about the meaning of breast cancer and what it represents when it manifests.

Second, my accountant, who is a spiritual man, recently recommended Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol K. Truman. Since I have it right at hand I'll quote what she lists as probable feelings causing ill-ness or dis-ease manifesting as cancer of females organs:

• Repressed anger (usually at male authroity figures)
• Feeling an emptiness in life
• Unresolved resentments
• Feelings of hostility being repressed
• Rejecting the self
• Feeling of despair
• Feelings of lonliness being repressed
• Poor relationship with parents
• Inability to cope with a traumatic loss
• Feelings of hopelessness/helplessness being repressed
• Mental depression
• Holding on to deep anger, resentment, hate, revenge or jealousy
• Not open to "light" or divine help
• Subconscious death wish

We can't afford any of these if we want to be truly well. One thing that is especially good about Truman's book is that she offers ideas for how to free ourselves from the self-imposed, limiting thoughts that create dis-ease.

It's our pygmy selves that keep us in thought patterns that require cosmic 2X4s like breast cancer to get our attention. Let's recognize it for the gift that it is. If we miss the more subtle versions of the lessons, we can be sure to get the cosmic 2X4 version. It's still a gift.

More on the pygmy self another day. All that's really important anyway is to wake up to what's really going on and BE that knowing, loving life from broader perspective.

Discover Edwene Gaines

The joy of beautifying North America one waistline at a time

It feels great to be in alignment. Do you agree?

Is the work that you do in alignment with what your beliefs and your passion? From broader perspective are you making the contribution you came here to make? Or are you marking time, slogging along in the trenches, basically just trading hours for dollars?

One of my favorite things in life is "beautifying North America, one waistline at a time" with the Healthy for Life Program. Sometimes I pinch myself just knowing that when I'm working out I'm also working! Ditto for preparing and serving low glycemic meals, encouraging others, studying personal development, and doing other things I love to do to share the vision, like writing and speaking.

Okay, so I know not everybody likes all of that, but it's definitely what I love! I get to do all these things and it doesn't even feel like work! It's joyful. That's my tipoff that I'm in alignment with source energy.

And you?