If you want to be happy...BE happy.

WEEKLY e-Message March 3, 2013

If you want to be happy, be.

--Leo Tolstoy

Good day, my Heartlight family,

For those who might wonder what lies at the heart of creating Sunday messages, it might be any number of things. Sometimes topics are based on questions that I’m asked by one of you, or the comments of someone I encounter while journeying through the world. Sometimes an idea floats up out of an article I’ve read, or a book, or the ideas of other ministers. Whatever the source, I take them all as potential guidance from Spirit, and worth exploring.

So…this week I’ve been thinking about whether there is any mystery to being happy. Some folks feel as if there is, but I’m pretty sure that’s the ego mind doing its usual fence-straddling and bet-hedging. In case it can’t figure out a way to be happy, it can fall back on the whole “life’s a mystery we’re not meant to solve,” argument. But we know that isn’t true. Our soul’s journey is designed (by us) to expand us, teach us, and enlighten us. Nothing is off-limits. How could it be? What could possibly be off-limits to an expression of God, that is to say…us?

The quote above from Leo Tolstoy may seem absurdly simplistic, but I assure you it isn’t. The ego mind complicates everything, takes everything personally, and makes heavy going out of what could be smooth sailing. It resists our Divine compulsions to let go of the thoughts and emotions that ail us. It clings fiercely to a catalogued inventory of failures, losses, mistakes, disappointments, and could-have-beens. I speak not from musings on the theoretical, but from personal experience. There was a time when my ego mind did all those things far too often, but I’ve spent some quality time in conversation with it, teaching it to work with my higher self, not against it. And I have to tell you that the result is pretty amazing—less judging, worrying, fretting, complaining—and way more peace of mind. Just remember that the ego mind makes a great ally and a very unsatisfactory task master, from a soul journey point of view.

You know, the more I walk this path we are sharing, the more aware I am that choice is at the heart of everything. We have this astounding and blessed freedom to choose peace in every moment, no matter what the world is showing us. Let us all continue to revel in the gift we have already been given.

Be well, be at peace...and bask in the Love,

Rev. Lauren

Learning the Steps to the Dance of Joy

WEEKLY e-Message February 24, 2013

Love is a force more formidable than any other. I

t is invisible - it cannot be seen or measured, 

yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, 

and offer you more joy than any material possession could.

--Barbara de Angelis

Love to faults is always blind,

always is to joy inclined. 

Lawless, winged, and unconfined, 

and breaks all chains from every mind.

--William Shakespeare

Greetings from Heartlight Central,

These past few weeks, we’ve been looking at a particular idea from different angles. We can do that because we have a passion for perspective; we aren’t willing to entrench ourselves in one place and make the world come to us and be examined from the ego mind’s often narrow and limited viewpoint. No, we learn, we expand, and we evolve. The way we accomplish all that is by continuing to clear out anything and everything that obscures our vision and our innate ability to ‘channel’ God.

This month, generally speaking, our focus has been ‘heaven’ and ‘hell.’ Obviously, we know these are not literal places, though they have been treated as such in various literature, and some people still cling to those stories. But that is what works for them. We have chosen to relinquish the limitations of other people’s ideas in order to welcome greater and broader ones.

So…our mission is to ‘get the hell out.’ This, too, can be looked at in more than one way. We are working to get the ‘hell’ out of ourselves (the anger, judgment, resentment, and all the negative thinking that goes along with those choices), and simultaneously we could also work to get ourselves out of hell (circumstances, personalities, and other aspects of life that do not resonate with our true Selves). Now, the latter approach is not always possible, is it? There may be people around us whose ways of beingcould make us angry, or hurt, or resentful, and we might not be able to alter their proximity to us (think family, co-workers, neighbors, and so forth). There may be circumstances we simply cannot change, not at the moment, and perhaps not ever. The world is full of events over which we have no control, and inhabited by people just being who they are. But we DO have absolute control over what we choose to feel, think about, say, and do. So the first approach, getting the ‘hell’ out of ourselves, is the surest path to lasting and unquenchable joy.

Recently, someone was describing to me a personal definition of joy, and saying that it doesn’t mean being jolly, or giddy, or bubbly every waking minute. It might not even mean being particularly happy all the time. Joy is something deeper than surface emotions. It is a beautiful blend of gratitude, peace, trust, and at-one-ment. It is a joy to be alive, to be aware, and to know that we can get through any experience or situation our human life shows us.

The more we clear out the ‘hell,’ the more room we have to make a permanent and expansive home for joy, and, in the process, really BE the expression of God that we are. We can do all the things that we believe God does—love without condition, release the negative issues we’ve hoarded, heal our wounds, and project pure peace wherever we are. In other words, we know what the “gold standard” is in terms of how we conduct ourselves, on the inner planes, and in the outer world. So… this week, the last installment in our discussion of exchanging the hellacious for the heavenly, and learning all the steps to the dance of joy. Eventually, you’ll feel so light on your feet, they won’t even touch the floor.

See you Sunday,

Much love and peace,

Rev. Lauren

Things Go Better with God

WEEKLY e-Message February 17, 2013

Close both eyes see with the other one.

Then we are no longer saddled by the burden of our persistent judgments, 

our ceaseless withholding, our constant exclusion.

Our sphere has widened and we find ourselves, quite unexpectedly, 

in a new, expansive location,

in a place of endless acceptance and infinite love.

--Gregory Boyle

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion

My dear family of Light and Love,

I am often wryly amused when a group of diligent, dedicated scientists labor long and hard to compile statistical evidence of some profound (yet basic) truth that many of us have pretty much known for years, and countless human beings have known for centuries, and likely millennia. I recently ran across an article published last fall, and no doubt you will find their conclusion as unsurprising as I do. According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Missouri, spirituality improves the health of most people, both of seemingly healthy individuals and those with conditions and illnesses. The mind boggles! We might even smack our foreheads in the style of those old V-8 commercials, and say, “If only someone had thought of that.”

Thankfully, someone did…lots of someones, actually.  There are the ‘big’ names, of course: Buddha, Mohammed, Jesus of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, and other enlightened human beings of the ancient past. But there have been many dozens of wise teachers in every century since. The common message is that with spiritual awareness, every facet of our lives is not only easier, but much more comprehensible. Since I’m already in the ‘commercial’ vein, think of it in terms of milk. “Things go better with God.” Naturally, we know that there is no question of whether Divine Presence is … well… present… since It can’t not be present (intentional use of double negative). Whether we are tuned in to the Presence is the only variable.

By the way, this study was not limited to any one spiritual tradition. The team found that in five faiths (Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Catholics, and Protestants), spirituality was associated with better mental health, lower levels of neuroticism and greater extroversion (and I’m all for anything that helps us be less neurotic). Dan Cohen, assistant teaching professor of religious studies at MU, explained: “With increased spirituality people reduce their sense of self and feel a greater sense of oneness and connectedness with the rest of the universe.” Hmm… so that’s how it works.

Most interesting, particularly in light of this week’s talk topic, is that they discovered that the primary spiritual trait predictive of mental health was forgiveness. That isn’t a revelation to us, either, is it? We already know that carrying around issues and grudges, hurt and anger, damages us in every way—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We already know about forgiveness as a spiritual practice, though there are times when we don’t really like the idea very much; in fact, there might be times we distinctly dislike the idea. But we practice it anyway, which is fortunate because that practice has prepared us for the next step, a step that takes us to place where wenever have to forgive again. Yes, that’s what I said, never forgive again. And, no, that doesn’t mean we can go back to treasuring our grievances. It means… well… why don’t I wait until Sunday to elaborate on the specific techniques we can use to just get past this pesky forgiveness issue. But here’s a little hint in the form of a brief anecdote.

There once was a farmer who showed up at the local hospital every spring with a broken bone (arm, ankle, leg) and finally the doctor asked the farmer’s wife what was going on. “Well,” she said, “every spring he digs a trench for his favorite vegetables.” The doctor nodded, “That doesn’t seem very unusual, or dangerous.” The farmer’s wife agreed.  “It’s just that every year, the morning after he digs the trench, he opens the front door, forgets that the trench is there, and falls into it.”

So… that is your hint, and I bet you can anticipate what the doctor would ask next, can’t you?

Be well in every way, and send your love to the world, a world that includes you!

Rev. Lauren

Tune In to the Higher Self

WEEKLY e-Message February 10, 2013

There is only one reason to do anything:

as a statement to the universe of Who You Are.

--Neale Donald Walsch

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

– Dalai Lama

Good day, Heartlight family,

This week I’ve been pondering that old saw about “into each life some rain must fall.” It isn’t quite as meaningful here in Southern California, since we generally applaud rain when it makes a rare appearance. But we get the point, because there isn’t one among us who doesn’t know all about pain—emotional, spiritual, physical.

Since even someone as wise at the Dalai Lama acknowledges that some aspects of life will hurt you, what is the point then of focusing as diligently as you do on your spiritual evolution? Answer: The degree to which you have expanded your spiritual consciousness is inversely proportional to how much you will suffer from life’s more unpleasant circumstances. Still, being humanly vulnerable, you have moments when you instinctively react in ways that don’t express your true and divine Self. That’s okay, too. Beating up on yourself doesn’t help one bit. Recognizing what you’re thinking and doing (be it blaming, shaming, judging, self-flagellating, resenting, finger-pointing—choose one or more), and saying ‘whoa, there’ is what helps.

So how do you know when you’ve gone off the rails? (Other than your headache, heartache and/or stomach ache, and possibly the expressions on the faces of the people caught in the fallout.) And, once you notice, how do you get back on track? It isn’t as difficult as your ego mind insists it will be. Instead, it’s a choice…a choice to tune in to the Higher Self. That’s the real meaning behind the idea of putting God in charge…not a God out there somewhere, but the one right there inside you. Your most vital relationship (the relationship of a lifetime) is with your Higher Self. That connection is your lifeline in moments of need; it is your source of highest and best wisdom.

Think of it this way: in the midst of whatever conversation you’re having with your ego mind, or another person, or the walls of the living room, or even the shower curtain (we all do a lot of thinking in the shower, don’t we)…when the thoughts start falling into the ‘red zone’ of negativity, you need to dial up the Voice of love, reason, enlightenment, forgiveness, surrender and peace. In the more modern vernacular, it’s time for a conference call.

This week’s talk, “Me, Myself and I” will explore this idea a little more and offer some reminders of how whole and perfect you truly are. It’s my job to convince you if you’re on the fence about it.

Infinity lives inside us, and Love is the only Truth we need,

Rev. Lauren

The Implied Commandment: Live Your Joy

WEEKLY e-Message February 3, 2013

[U]nderstanding teaches us that there can never come a time when we shall stop progressing; that age is an illusion, that limitation is a mistake, that unhappiness is ignorance. This understanding will rob man of his loneliness and give him a sense of security which knows no fear, a peace without which no life can be happy, a poise which is founded on this peace, and a power which is the result of the union of peace with poise.

--Dr. Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Greetings, my dear Heartlighters,

First an excerpt from the opening passages of Richard Bach’s Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

And he said unto them, “If a man told God that he wanted most of all to help the suffering world, no matter the price to himself, and God answered and told him what he must do, should the man do as he is told?”

“Of course, Master!” cried the many. “It should be pleasure for him to suffer the tortures of hell itself, should God ask for it!”

“No matter what those tortures, nor how difficult the task?”

“It’s an honor to be hanged, glory to be nailed to a tree and burned, if so be that God has asked,” said they.

          “And what would you do,” the Master said unto the multitude, “if God spoke directly to your face and said, ‘I COMMAND THAT YOU BE HAPPY IN THE WORLD, AS LONG AS YOU LIVE.’  What would you do then?”

And the multitude was silent, not a voice, not a sound was heard upon the hillsides, across the valleys where they stood. And the Master said unto the silence, “In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime. So it is that I have learned this day, and choose to leave you now to walk your own path, as you please.”

In these few paragraphs from a quite extraordinary book, we who are on the path of spiritual evolution recognize a profound truth… well, several really. We know that we have already received our life’s mandate, and that it comes from the Divine Presence within us. Our mandate is joyfulness. We know that there is no special virtue in suffering; in fact, it is our ability to view even the most painful of life’s circumstances from a spiritual perspective (thus skipping the suffering) that is a virtue.

When we recognize that we are meant to be happy, we are able to return to joy…return to love…even after we are hurt, wounded, even devastated, by things over which we have no control. Yes, we must walk our paths, “as we please,” because it is we who are in charge of that path. There is nothing outside of us that determines our destinies or our choices; to believe otherwise is one of the illusions that we must abandon as we evolve into the full-fledged heroes and heroines of our own life stories.

This Sunday, Rev. Linda will be our teacher, and will be sharing with us her thoughts on the illusions we encounter in our lives. I trust we will leave our Sunday Gathering with precisely what we need to know as we move with purposeful joy through our continuing human adventure.

Love is alive, and love is all there is,

Rev. Lauren

Wielding Divine Power: Our True Selves in Action

WEEKLY e-Message January 27, 2013

If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, 

then I must warn you that you'll be unhappy for the rest of your life. 

–Abraham Maslow

Good evening (or good morning), my friends,

This week at Heartlight we’ll talk about Heaven, and no doubt create a bit of it, too. Naturally, since you are all wise devotees of the New Thought path, you know I’m not talking about some place  … up there (or out there) somewhere—a destination. We know its qualities aren’t really measurable, and we can’t find it on a map, or buy an admission ticket. We know it’s pretty synonymous with a state of Joy, and, all in all, sounds like a darn good idea. Well, it is a good idea, and the best of ideas take shape in the mind, the One Mind.

Much as we know we would prefer heaven to hell, we may still not be entirely sure about what it means to create it ourselves, in real-life terms. We might think to ourselves—but only God can wield the power to create big phenomena like Heaven. Of course, and, guess what? We are God, the manifest expressions of God, Essence become form. Thus WE are the ones tasked with wielding that Divine Power. We have it within us to create anything, and the more we evolve, the more brilliantly and skillfully we shall create. As a matter of fact, our abilities are never in question. It was what we choose to make of our abilities, both divine and human, that shapes our experience of Life.

Will we grasp that power with joyous zeal, or will fear it? Will we take full responsibility for our lives, or blame others when circumstances seem to go awry? Will we bask in an attitude of gratitude, or will we fret about what we think we lack? Will we open to grace, let it fill us to overflowing (as Rev. Linda talked about earlier this month), or will we close our hearts and minds. You see, it’s all about the choices, all about that marvelous gift of free will. I'm pretty certain I already know your answers. I can’t tell you what a delight it is for me to look out at all of you each Sunday and see people making such God-centered choices every day of your lives. It’s amazing…and beautiful. Thank you.

See you soon,

Infinite love and blessings are flowing into and through every emerging moment,

Rev. Lauren

Each Day a Chance to Begin Again

WEEKLY e-MESSAGE --January 6, 2013

The older I get, the more convinced I am that every human life is an evolutionary process...

we are offered an experience of divinity, an opportunity, great or small, 

to share in the ongoing act of creation.  

--Morris West

Good morning, gentle Heartlighters,

Last Sunday (our last of 2012), I asked if any of you had made New Year resolutions, and whether you’d been able to keep the ones you’d made last year about this time.  The answers were generally “yes” to the first question and “not necessarily” to the second. I think those both hold true for most of us. So why do we do it?Seems like a good idea. Seems like a good time to do it.

While I don’t like to cast aspersions on resolutions in general, since acting with resolve can be empowering, I do think we attach a lot of “shoulds” to our New Year ambitions. We say, “I should to this or I shouldn’t do that…” and there isn’t a great deal of joy behind the decision; sometimes it’s more of a grim determination—and isn’t that fun? We also tend to put pretty stringent conditions on ourselves. We say we are going to do this, or not do this, forever. We are never going to have judgments of people again; we are never going to entertain negative thoughts about ourselves; we are never going to utter a single word that doesn’t easily pass through the three gates of speech (is it true, is it kind, is it necessary)….. Right. Those statements are likely to be true only if we are planning to depart planet Earth right about now.

Does any of this imply we need not make any changes in what we do or think or say? Of course not! Life is all about change. I’m simply suggesting that we take a gentle, centered approach to the development of our inner selves. I’m suggesting we see change as something that occurs gradually over time—not in a day or a week or even a year. Most of all, I’m suggesting that we apply our diligence to staying focused on the now moment (the only place real change occurs) rather than wasting precious thought energy on regretting what we didn’t achieve yesterday and worrying about what we might or might not achieve tomorrow. Today is where the magic happens—gratitude, joy, understanding, realization, healing, and transformation.

I encourage you to see each and every day as an opportunity to begin again, to hone your talents as a spiritual being having a human experience. Remember that the person who looked back at you from the mirror yesterday is not the same person looking back at you today. It’s all new and it’s all good.

Tomorrow I shall unveil our theme word for the year, as we also acknowledge our previous themes: Believe; Trust: and Create. They have served us well, and we shall not leave them behind, but keep them in our tool box as we add yet another.

Let me close with this Thought from the Universe (TUT):

“I was about to wish that your every dream come true. That you find yourself surrounded by friends, laughter, and good times. I almost wished that your every cup runneth over financially, romantically, spiritually, and creatively. That good health be your faithful companion, peace your guarded ally, and love your perpetual guide. When suddenly, it dawned on me that as an infinite, powerful, fun-loving being of the Universe, with eternity before you and the power of your thoughts to help shape it... it's you who will be granting wishes this year, it’s you who will create the future.”

Here’s to another extraordinary year at Heartlight.

Love and blessings overflowing,

Rev. Lauren