PRAYERS--WHY AIN'T THEY WORKING

Do you ever pray for anything? I used to long ago. And I still do but its no longer a prayer where Im asking some higher deity somewhere afar from me. And my prayers no longer "ask" "beg" or "plead" for something great in my life. Personally I have finally arrived a the point where my prayers consist of saying thank you Great Spirit for all the blessings I have and will continue to have as I need them. I also do what the Science of Mind calls prayer "treatments', usually for other people I know and love. But I also do those prayers for all of us as a human congregation. And the amazing part is now that Ive changed my "way" of praying I find my prayers finally being answered, whereas before most times my desires I prayed for never seemed to come about. Why is this one may ask. Well I have my own opinion as to why but to put it simply I feel one must truly believe that whatever they are praying for is already manifest in the Universal Mind and that it will manifest in our "material" world when our faith is strong enough. As Mahatma Gandhi once said:"In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words, than words without a heart." And also from the Science fo Mind page 431:The secret of prayer and its power in the outward life depends upon an unconditional faith in, and reliance upon this Inner Presence." My hope and "prayer" for all of you is that you can clearly see why prayer works and why it doesnt seem to a t times. Then one can go from that point on and watch seemingly "miracles" come raining down upon them on a daily basis. Be patient be strong and never gi e up hope y friends. Love to all of you.

LOSING IT ALL

This story is reprinted from Science of Mind magazine in April 1993. It is a true story of my account after going through a seperation from the woman and 2 beautiful children that I loved with all my heart. I do hope you will enjoy. I might suggest that you first read my previous post-When Relationships Go Bad.
LOSING IT ALL
In the summer of 1986 I was on top of the world. I had a good job, a great family, many friends, and had just met a wonderful woman and her two little girls. My health was fine, and the future looked bright.
As summer turned to winter I fell deeply in love with this beautiful lady and her 2 darling children, and for the first time in my life I had another family to go with my own wonderful family.
Then in late November the company I worked for decided to close their place of business. Over a year later, I finally did get another job, but it paid less money than I had been accustomed to. Although the decrease in salary caused a few problems, I was still at peace with myself.
However, this job required much more physical labor than my previous one, and I soon began to experience severe back and neck pain. I had suffered a broken neck in a car accident in 1974 and bone spurs now formed on my spinal cord, creating a lot of pain. Because of the pain I began to work only part time.
Over the next 4 years the love I was surrounded by kept me going. I helped the woman I loved get through nursing school and raise her children. I made some sacrifices to do that but I was more than happy to do so. I was determined to stay positive and make our life together a good one.
I soon became so involved in trying to take care of everyone else that somewhere along the line I forgot about myself. My health kept on getting worse.
While these things were going on I felt a stirring inside me which said all was not right. Looking back, I realize I had become to lax in my spiritual work and too caught up in the details of my daily life. Spirit was calling but I refused to listen.
Finally, one night I released everything, asking Spirit to take control and lead me to wherever I was supposed to be. I prayed for my life to be put back in order.
Shortly thereafter, the woman I loved informed me that she was no longer happy with me and that she was leaving. She packed up and moved out of town without even saying good-bye. I was devastated. No longer was I welcome to see her or the kids. They had all disappeared like a falling star in the nite sky.
The emotional pain, coupled with the physical pain brought me to the brink of a nervous breakdown. The ones I loved had deserted me. I was no longer capable of gainful employment. I was broke but more importantly I had lost the ability to think clearly. In March of 1992 an accidental overdose of muscle relaxers resulted in my spending 9 daysin the hospital. It seemed as if even Spirit had deserted me.
During hte next 6 months I worked on getting my thoughts aligned with the storehouse of Universal Goodness . I stopped blaming others for my problems and concentrated on forgiving them as well as forgiving myself.
During this recovery period I was blessed with much love and support from my family and friends. The Science of Mind teaching became a focal point in my life, helping me to discover that Spirit is always there for me.
As time went on I began to feel even more alive than before. I replaced all negative thoughts with thoughts of love and peace. Today I am the happiest I have ever been.
When problems come up, now I know the solutions are within me and I remember to call upon Spirit. My goal is to never again lose sight of my perfect spiritual center when life brings change. At long last I allow Spirit to gently lead.

WHEN RELATIONSHIPS GO BAD

Well, we have just finished celebrating Valentines Day with all the cards candy hearts poetry dinners and everything else in between. It is such a blessing to be in a relationship where both parties are truly happy. To me nothing is as beautiful as 2 people in love who know how to make a relationship work. Believe me I know just how hard a relationship can be at times to keep vital. I was talking with my dear wife about relationships while we were out for dinner this Valentines Day.I told her I felt really bad for those folks who were not in a loving relationship and had to see all the "happy" couples enjoying another Valentines Day. Granted there are those who prefer not to be in a committed relationship and that is a choice I hope they are happy with. But for all those folks who are now in the process of a dissolving relationship of any kind I feel badly for.Those who have lost a love thru divorce or seperation I believe are the hardest.Most all of us have either gone thru a broken relationship and a broken heart or will sometime in the future. I have a very dear friend right now who is in the midst of divorce and that was my inspiration for this entry.From my past experiences I have come to find that most folks will blame themselves for a failed marriage or committed relationship even tho they are not fully at fault.And to those folks I would remind them that a divorce doesnt mean the end of the world or the end of relationships unless they choose to let it destroy them. They are still the beautiful loving wonderful soul they were while in the relationship even tho they probably dont feel like their self-worth is very good.There are just so many reasons why a marriage will often times end in divorce. It takes much love and understanding to make even the most loving relationship last forever. I know from my own personal experience that a person who finds themselves in seperation or divorce can and must reinvent themselves to become fully healed from a broken relationship. In my case after a seperation with the woman and kids I loved so dearly I found myself with very low self esteem and failing health. I thought at the time I would never recover from the deep wounds inflicted upon me(mostly wounds I unknowingly placed upon myself). But with a lot of soul searching, a lot of help from family and friends, and an "inner" knowing that this was really a chance for me to grow and to finally find the woman I was meant to spend my life with. And several years later after my lost love I found myself completely healed and in love again.This love turned out to be one with my soul mate and on the 14th of May we will celebrate our 15th year together as man and wife.And it truly is a match made in Heaven. So ffrom my pain so long ago I learned that no matter how badly we may be hurt we can always with the right amount of effort find ourselves once again and go from that point a better person. My next entry will be a story that I wrote and was published in the Science of Mind magazine in april of 1993 3 years after my seperation and the new beginning I started upon.Again I wrote this story to try and inspire others who find themselves going thru anything similiar.I just want everyone to know that there is a life after divorce and oft times a much better life. So I hope you will read this before you read the story called Losing It All. May God bless any of you that are hurting in any way but especially those suffering a broken heart.Keep the faith my friend!

Valentines Day Wishes

From me to you, I wish each of you and yours a very safe happy love filled Valentines Day tomorrow and every day thereafter. Love, Peace, and Hugs I send your way.

JOY TO THE WORLD JOY TO YOU AND ME

Jeramiah was a bullfrog was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said but I helped him drink his wine
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea joy to you and me
Don't you just love the words to that old song by 3Dog Night? The feeling of pure joy is one of humankinds most cherished states of being. For when one is in a state of pure joy there is no room for ANY negative thoughts.Its just to bad most of us seldom if ever reach that blessed state and when we do it doenst seem to last long enough. Joy as defined in the Science of Mind Textbook is this:Joy---the emotion excited by the expectancy of good. And from the mind of Margaret Bonnano comes this wisdom about joy."It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis" And from the mind of Captron52 comes this: My desire for all of you is that right now in this one eternal moment that you can experience a state of pure and perfect joy.

SEEING THE LIGHT

My dear friends. I certainly hope all of you had a safe fun filled weekend filled with much love peace and joy. As we begin this week on our new paths let us all try to see rightly and to remember that all of us are indeed ONE. One with each other one with the planet one with Spirit and so on. I share with you now a quote from Oglala Sioux Chief Crazy Horse: " I salute the Light within your eyes where the whole Universe dwells. For when you are at the center within you, and I am in that place within me, we shall be One."
I sincerely hope and pray that all of you will accept the presence of Spirit within you and allow its loving light to gently guide you along your way today and forever. Hugs I leave with all of you.God bless!

UPDATE ON MY LAST POST:GREED

Hey folks. Sure hope all of you are doing great and that you will have a fun and safe weekend filled with much love,peace, and joy. Much to my surprise when I went to our mailbox this afternoon there was a letter from the aforementioned dentist office where my wife had been taken advantage. I opened the letter and enclosed was a check for 57.00. Nothing else mind you, not even a note to say sorry about the misunderstanding. Too bad I had to file a complaint with the BBB to get them to do the right thing. I have learned another lesson from life and for once I managed to get our money back. Just thought Id let ya know. Take care and enjoy every moment you have! Life is just so short so tell those you love and care about just how much they mean to you today before its too late!

GREED

Is it just me or has almost everybody gotten so greedy that they will do anything for a dollar? I remember back a few years ago when you could get a buy on a purchase for a fair price. Or pay your monthly bills and still have a little money left over? Seems to me like all the companies or service providers I now deal with wont be happy until they get our last dime. They want it all for themselves and dont care if they leave a body with a dollar to spare or not. And one of my pet peeves is paying a dear price for a service or product only to find out I have been taken to the cleaners once again. Ill give you an examp;e of what Im talking about. Last week my wife was having some trouble with a tooth that had been capped a few years ago so she made an appointment with our dentist.Once there they did an xray of the tooth in question and the dentist assured her there was no problem of any kind with the tooth. My wife came home delighted that all wehad to pay was 26.00 for the exam and xray when she had been afraid it would need a new crown. Before she left the dentist office that day he told her she had not had a dental exam and cleaning fora couple of years and that it would be a good idea to get one done.So before leaving she scheduled an appointment the following monday for the cleaning. She asked them how much it was going to cost and they told her 126.00 total. When she went back for the appointment the dentist looked at the tooth he had xrayed on friday and this time he said it was cracked and needed to be recrowned at the cost of a cool 1 thousand dollars. Now this same dentist had crowned a few of her teeth a few years back and the the cost was 775.00. I always thought the price was way too high but I suppose that is the going rate these days. Since we dont have dental insurance we will have to pay all of it out of pocket.But thats not what really teed me off. After the cleaning my wife went to pay the126.00 she had been told it would cost. But the office girl told her it was 183.00. She asked why the price was not what she had been quoted. The girl told her it was for the xrays they had taken.Because my wife is such an easy going person she went ahead and paid the 183.00. When she got home and told me that I was furious.I mean they should have told her the xrays were gonna cost extra . She was led to believe that 126.00 was all the costs and that the xrays were just a normal part of the exam since they failed to tell her it would be extra. I tried to remain calm and called the office and talked to one of the women in the office. I informed her I thought we had been overcharged and would she kindly take the 57.00 off of our credit card. She said she would check with the other folks and call me back. A few minutes later she called and informed me they had no intention of refunding us the difference. OK , you may think 57.00 is not much and that I should just let it drop. But when I feel a wrong has been done to anyone I think the wrongdoer should at least be made accountable.Too manytimes in the past when things like that happened to me I would just chalk it up as a lesson and go on. But for the past few years I have decide to stand up for what I believe in. I told the lady on the phone that I couldn't believe that this dentist was so greedy that he would not do the right thing.I started going to him over 25 years ago and when I married 15 yrs ago my wife went to him and we spent a bundle of money mostly on my wifes crowns. Then 4 years ago my wifes folks moved to Paducah and we set them up for their dental work with this dentist.All the money and business we gave to him and he cant see clear to do the right thing. Well I can only tell him that decision will cost him a lot more than the 57.00 he screwed us out of.My wife has already found a new dentist and he has started on 2 new crowns for her at 900.00 a pop.He normally charges a little more than that for crowns but he cut us a break since she was a new customer. I have also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against our previous dentist. Now do I think we will ever get our money back? Probably not. But thats ok cause now that dentist will have a pending complaint against him unless he makes it right.And I also intend to tell everybody I can about this guys practice. So whether its a dentist or some other service company I would advise that before you trust them with your money it would be a good thing to check with the BBB first. Like I said I may be wrong feeling the way I do but Im just damned tired of people ripping me and anyone else off. You know I hate to use my blog to vent about my own experiences and you may find it quite boring and I wouldnt blame you a bit. But I do feel better now that Ive written my feelings down . Now I can just say thanks to our old dentist for making me angry because that has helped me to grow a little bit more spiritually. I sure hope all of you have a better experience with all your business dealings. God bless all of you

WISHFUL THINKING VERSUS CONVICTION

Webster's defines conviction as a strong belief. How strong a belief one has will determine the outcome of any given circumstances. Lots of us, myself included, often times confuse conviction with "wishful thinking" and that is what makes for all the confusion in our lives.Well, maybe not all, but a lot of it Im sure. How many times I have mistakenly thought my beliefs were a conviction when in reality it was more of a wishing or hoping rather than a real conviction of belief. I've seen folks who claim they are sure they have found a conviction in that their life is about to take a turn for the better turn right around and sabotage that belief with words or thoughts to the contrary. Its kinda like someone saying I have all the faith in the world that tonite is the nite I finally hit the big one in the lottery. Yet when they go to buy the ticket they mention to the clerk that they never win anything. They say they are unlucky but at teh same time they tell the clerk that tonite is gonna be different because they have been thinnking positive thoughts. I would argue that all they have really done is mask their "hope" and "wishful thinking" in a cloud of confusion. They do not have a conviction and the thoughts they are putting out to the Divine Mind is this: "I don't really believe deep down that Im gonna win anything but theres always a small chance. Cant you help me?" From the Gospel of Thomas comes this quote:"You must seek in order to discover the Spirit and Truth and must continue seeking until you realize the Spirit indwelling you and know teh Truth in your own experience." And from the SOM Textbook pg 499: A silent conviction is worth more than the loudest proclamation from the housetops of those who shout affirmations to the great nowhere. So right now is a great time for all of us to figure out just what it is we desire from this life and then work on attaining a conviction that willo be strong enough to allow our desires to be made manifest. The best to all of you.