A spiritual alchemist

(re-sharing this post from a couple months ago)

In a discussion this morning I used the term “spiritual alchemy” to describe the seemingly-magical changes that take place in our lives when we begin to work with and apply metaphysical spiritual principles. In other blog posts I have described this as the way that people, circumstances and events around us shift to facilitate an opening for our Good to show up.

I have written about how this alchemy has worked to my benefit such as the time that a Summer storm landed a tree on my roof which led to an insurance intervention that helped to replace my old roof, or the months-long discomfort I felt at a well-paying job which led me to leave and land in a more stable job with a pension.

Other times this alchemical process was influencing me, but for the benefits of others. There was the time I was inspired to take an alternate route on a morning walk at the perfect place and time and intercepted a loose dog (pet) who had bolted from his home and was dashing about wildly as heavy traffic moved up and down the street; and the time I was called at the last minute to teach a class just to find that a student in that class needed information I had just stumbled across.

I cannot explain the science of these demonstrations, but believe that the online definition of alchemy comes close:

“a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation or combination”.

While some have sought to specifically define “spiritual alchemy“, I can think of no better explanation than to point to the incredible stories of unexpected happenings and events that show up in our lives – or the lives of others – and that are answers to prayer or deep needs.

Ancient alchemists were sought out to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials. Their history is best known for their attempts to transform base metals (common, low-cost metals like lead) into noble metals such as gold and silver.

The spiritual alchemist seeks to transform common and unwanted circumstances into more noble ones. We work to facilitate shifts from lack to abundance; from poor health to wholeness; from weakness to strength; from sadness to joy and more.

Our supplies do not come as powders folded into paper envelopes, or liquids added to glass decanters and heated over a flame. Instead we apply right thinking, spiritually- aligned ideas and Spiritual Mind Treatment and prescribe the use of affirmations, journaling and more to induce the alchemical reactions and produce the desired results.

In some corners of society we may be as misunderstood as the alchemists of old, but we are committed to our work and have attained something that the lead-to-gold crowd never achieved: we have example after example of successful, alchemical transformation.

We are officially referred to as Practitioners; but the more appropriate term for the work that we do, I believe, is Spiritual Alchemist. The demonstrations we experience and witness are nothing less than “seemingly magical” processes. And after the year we all just came through,…I think the world could use a bit more magic,…don’t you?

(C) 2021 Practitioner's Path

Logic and ethics in spiritual practice

Over the past few years, I have written a number of blogs on my opinion about the way ministerial education is being advertised (promoted, even) to a demographic of people without full disclosure of the ramifications of that path at that time in their lives. That demographic is largely (though not exclusively) female, Caucasian and over age 50.

In the early 21st century, then-President George W. Bush signed legislation that included some “interesting” student loan provisions. Long story short – student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and they will follow the borrower to the grave, and even beyond (they will go after the estate to settle outstanding student loan debt).

As an educator, I’m all for lifelong learning. I think that continuing to learn new things and take on new challenges helps to keep us young. But just as all that learning and expansion works on keeping us young, the burden of DEBT in the retirement years works in the opposite direction.

It is for this reason that I counsel students, young and not-so-young, against making foolish decisions around education where borrowing will be required to meet the tuition and fees. The question then becomes: what makes a decision “foolish“? To evaluate that, several aspects must be considered including job market, industry trends and personal goals.

Organized religion, as we knew it growing up in the 20th century United States, is on the decline and has been since the 1970’s. This decline has accelerated in the 21st century, and promised to continue that acceleration even before the global pandemic moved in and shook up life as we THOUGHT we knew it. The model of a minister leading a Sunday-centric organization and making a living wage through that work is functioning in rare places outside of Evangelical circles. I’ve written numerous blogs on the research that bears out what I am saying, so I won’t repeat those here (links to those blogs will appear at the bottom of this post).

This is where the logical considerations of investing in a ministerial education come to mind, and in that same theme (logic), I’ll use an “IF-THEN” statement construct to lay this out:

IF becoming a minister is a personal goal, AND finances are not an issue (e.g. you can pay for it up front or have other funding), AND you can afford to invest your time and money for a career that may never pay you a salary; THEN proceed as planned.

However, while there are certainly some folks out there who can, I believe that it is the rare ministerial student who has $20,000 to $30,000 just laying around waiting to be spent for little to no financial return on investment (ROI). Let’s look at what the federal department of Education lists as the probable repayment for just under $30,000 borrowed today:

(from https://studentaid.gov/)

Now let’s look at another IF/THEN statement that anyone considering a student loan for ministerial school should undertake:

IF becoming a minister is a personal goal, AND an additional $294 a month coming out of your current budget would be a hardship, AND paying this amount for the next 10 years will disrupt your plans for retirement or other life plans, THEN – it’s time for a hard stop and some serious rethinking of your plans.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when you are considering taking on $20,000 to $30,000 in student loan debt after the age of 50:

• what is it that I believe this degree will allow me to do, that I cannot do now?
• what is the cost/benefit (ROI) on borrowing this money?
  • (in other words, what will I give UP, and what will I receive)
• am I getting caught up in the idea of the TITLE that I can add to my business card when I graduate?
• why do I want to become a minister?
• what impact will having to pay an additional $294 every month have on what I want my life to be for the next 3, 5 or 10 years?

I would be less incensed about the marketing of ministerial education if there was more attention to the cold, hard facts around costs and student loan debt associated with the acquisition of a ministerial degree -AND- if there was current, clear and generous data on how many ministers are working in unpaid positions, as well as the MEDIAN (not average) minister salary in the movement (keep in mind that the MEDIAN salary would be that figure that represents the true middle – half make MORE and half make LESS).

In addition, much of America is wholly ignorant about the realities of their lives (& money) after retirement. Looking at the dollars and cents impact of taking on a debt of this size that has no legal way of being discharged is CRITICAL as people head into their retirement years. I worked multiple jobs all throughout my younger adult years. If I do that now it’s because I choose to and enjoy it (e.g. adjunct teaching). I cannot imagine retiring from one job, and realizing that my financial decisions in life have made it so that I now have to work another Full Time job to afford the debt I took on later in life.

Keep in mind that even if you quit working and are living on Social Security plus a retirement, the federal government will GARNISH your social security stipends as well as any tax refunds you would be entitled to in order to pay your student loan debt. I’ve made good money across my career, and I wouldn’t want almost $300/month coming off the top of my expected social security payments when I retire.

Looking at this from the LOGICAL perspective always makes me sad because it leads me to ask the question: why would any organization that markets itself as being dedicated to uplifting humanity be so willing to burden some of their most dedicated adherents with student loan debt later in their lives – especially for a career that we all know is a dinosaur?

This is the aspect that makes me the most upset. I support anyone’s desire to follow their dreams, and if that dream is to become a minister – they should investigate the feasibility of pursuing it!

What I do care about is that the price tag is significant, and the outcomes are extremely limited. It is my strong opinion that in the marketing that is done to draw people into ministerial training, there ought to be a mandatory financial analysis that each student does to make sure that they understand, finitely, what they are signing up for: what it will cost, for how long and the ACTUAL market for paying jobs with their new credential.

And yes, there will be people who say “the minister is free to start their own ministry and the sky is the limit!” and that is true. BUT,… consider this one: Joel Osteen, arguably one of the wealthiest ministers in the United States, didn’t go to ministerial school, so it’s clear that the ministerial degree is not what is needed to build a wildly successful ministry.

In medicine, physicians begin their professional practice by agreeing to abide by the Hippocratic oath, which states that they must first do no harm. In the case of organizations who package and sell ministerial training, this seems to be an appropriate goal as well. If spiritual organizations are unable to walk their ethical talk in this area (e.g. do business from a place of integrity), perhaps its time to reevaluate how they market themselves to the world.

(C) 2021 Practitioner's Path

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Related blog posts:

• Fine Art of Disruption
• Organized Religion in the Gig Economy
• Retail Religion
• Buy your religion wholesale
• Sustainable spirituality
• Apocalypse How?
• Birthing a New Model

The power of keeping a secret

In the biblical canon we find multiple instances of guidance on how to use universal spiritual principles. Some of these are mentioned only once while others are repeated throughout the various chapters and books. While all are worth considering, we would be wise to pay special attention to the concepts that repeat. One such example is the principle of keeping a secret.

¹ “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

² “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

⁵ “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Matthew 6

Three times in a row the master teacher reminds his students and disciples to keep things to themselves. The language used in the biblical text can be confusing. What does it mean that our “Father who sees in secret” will reward us?

This is surely a complex and multi-faceted concept, so let’s look at it in portions. We know that it is taught that as we give, so shall we receive. But this group of passages seem to indicate that our giving needs to be kept to ourselves. If we are tithing or giving and gaining recognition from others for our giving (e.g. power, influence, bragging rights) the biblical text and other spiritual teachers suggest that the Good that we would otherwise receive in return for our giving is diluted, if not cancelled, when we receive a benefit from sharing about what we have given with others. In other words – the “benefit” we get is from the public attention we have drawn to our act of giving.

While I’m not suggesting that we give anonymously and miss out on the tax benefit of giving, I am suggesting that the Treasurer or Bookkeeper should be the ONLY people who are aware of our giving habits at our church or center, and that any other giving we do should be kept to ourselves.

If you are tithing, giving and not seeing any reciprocal Good coming back your way – spend some time thinking about how much you discuss or share about your habits. A small change in what you talk about might be all you need to shift the winds in your favor.

The other theme in this privacy paragraph is that of not praying in public. In metaphysical circles, people often talk about what they want to manifest. They will share – in large groups and small – that they are seeking Treatment (affirmative, scientific prayer) to achieve X or attain Y.

The biblical perspective is often interpreted as arrogance being the issue with praying in public and getting attention when giving alms and tithes. While I have no argument with that as one aspect of the issue, I believe that it goes deeper. In a previous blog, I wrote about Practitioner as spiritual Alchemists. I believe that there is something in the alchemy of answered prayer that is negatively impacted by the public consideration and discussion of our deepest desires. But, I can no more explain how talking about what we are praying for dampens the results than I can explain how a TREE came to fall on my house when I needed a new roof. I just know.

Beloved metaphysical teacher, the late Dr. Wayne Dyer, has an explanation that goes a little further in explaining the alchemy of this guidance. In teaching people about manifesting the lives of their desires using prayer, or metaphysical principles, he teaches that they should “keep it to themselves“.

His explanation is that when we begin to talk about our deepest, heartfelt desires with others, we move from the world of Spirit into the world of ego. We also open ourselves to others’ negative opinions about our lives and what we want. When we have placed our attention on something that we want – something that is a big dream – and we share it with someone, we risk them “polluting” the energy field with doubt and other negativity. They may even tell us that our dream is crazy or unlikely to succeed; or question why in the world we would want something like that. This plants seeds of doubt and moves us from the spiritual realm back into the physical realm, or what Wayne Dyer referred to as the “world of particles“.

³ Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Hebrews 11:3

It’s MUCH better for us if we keep our hopes, desires and dreams between us and Spirit.

“St. Paul said, “That which is seen hath not come from that which doth appear”—the source of everything in the world of form is not from the world of form. It’s from the world of Spirit—the world of the invisible which has no boundaries, no beginnings and no ends. 

Dr. Wayne Dyer’s blog site

When I have followed this counsel, understanding that the Good I desire comes to me from the world of Spirit, I have benefitted. I will admit that a significant portion of my rationale for not telling anyone that I was praying for a new roof, or for relief from my student loans (initially at least) was that I did not want people to think I was nuts. But I am also a student of spiritual Truth and know that this advice is not written into these texts for no reason.

It’s important to note that there is no prohibition about seeking the support of a spiritual Practitioner to do Spiritual Mind Treatment/prayer work for you. It is important to end any Practitioner session by allowing the spoken Treatment to stand as the last word spoken about the issue, and not to continue talking about things after that time. It is also perfectly alright (can you hear Neville saying that phrase?) telling people about our demonstrations and answered prayers once they have arrived, but we must take care to keep our dreams and desires in the secret place of the Most High before then, lest we interrupt the alchemy that is already working to bring our Good into our lives.

As you ponder the deep desires of your heart, and have worked through accepting that it is possible, and believing that you deserve it; make sure you commit to tucking it away and keeping it between you and Spirit – no matter how tempted you may be to talk about it. Keep it to yourself – and watch the miraculous unfold in front of you.

And so it is.

(C) 2021 Practitioner's Path

Finding our good

If you are using spiritual principles to help bring more Good into your life, you don’t want to miss this talk I gave early last Autumn! So often we look past the Good that is all around us – hoping for a miracle, counting on the BIG WIN. In this VLOG (video blog) I talk about how waiting for the lottery jackpot or rich relative can blind us to the Good that is all around us.

And so it is.

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(C) 2021 Practitioner's Path

Spring housecleaning

This year I sent away for the Unity Lenten guide – not because I necessarily observe the Lenten season, or subscribe to the traditional Lent/Easter story, but because there is value in the 40-day Lenten journey on the spiritual level. I’m also predisposed to 40-day journeys, having just posted another kick-off to the 40-day Abundance journey based on John Randolph Price’s Abundance Book.

As part of my own journey through the 40 days of Lent this year I decided to consider the dual themes of RELEASE and RENEWAL in blogs throughout the period.

I haven’t decided if I will post a short blog daily, or simply blog weekly throughout the season, but if I were a betting person, I’d put my money on the weekly vs. daily (it’s a busy time of year).

I’ve blogged about Easter one other time, but never about Lent that I can recall or find on my site. This will be a new experience and will surely be enlightening on a number of levels. I hope that what I discover, uncover and share has value for all who read them.

If you’re curious about the resource that inspired my Lenten blog journey, you can request your own Release and Renew from Unity – click here.

I won’t be parroting the writings in the booklet, but allowing them to inspire me and sharing the takeaways I find from spending time reading each day’s offerings.

The word “journey” is defined as an act of traveling from one place to another. In this sense, the Lenten journey is a spiritual one. Where we end up has more to do with where we begin, and what our intentions are for the outcome than any predetermined destination. In this regard, the paired concepts of Renew and Release are perfect spiritual themes – balanced in their impact; the yin and yang of moving forward and of starting over.

After all, Easter’s secular icons (rabbits and eggs) symbolize the newness of life. In self-examination of our internal lives, newness can only come when we clean out the old (release) and make room for the new (renew).

Whether we celebrate Lent in the traditional manner (religious) or are alerted to its arrival by the appearance of colleagues who show up at work with a large, black smudge on their foreheads in the middle of the week – we can all benefit from a 40-day contemplation of the things we wish to release as well as those we wish to renew.

I look forward to the discoveries I will make and share on the way.

Peace & blessings to all who follow along.

(C) 2021 Practitioner's Path

Recommit to more prosperity

Today the lunar calendar marks another New Moon, and with that, right timing to begin new projects, like another session of the 40-day Abundance Journey by John Randolph Price.

If abundance and prosperity are on your short list in 2021 for some expansion and increase, I invite you to consider taking the 40-day Abundance Journey. I’ve recorded 40 video guides to lead you along if you find that kind of thing helpful (plus an INTRO video that helps get you started, found here).

If you prefer less tech and more tradition, you can start your Abundance Journey with reading instead of listening, beginning with a series of blog posts that walks readers through the 10 foundational statements of faith around abundance in support of embarking on the 40-days. Those blog posts begin here.

How does the Abundance Journey work?

It works by repetition – planting the seeds of ideas and new Truths and reinforcing them over 40 days. Slowly but surely, when we stick to this and open ourselves to at least PONDER the authenticity of the statements, we begin to look at our circumstances, our finances and the opportunities in front of us in new and expanding ways. As Neville Goddard taught, all things come from the subconscious – and the 40-day Abundance Journey is all about reprograming our subconscious mind around abundance and prosperity.

I have never undertaken this journey that I did not get a demonstration of something unexpected. The last time (when I was recording the 40-day journey video guide) I received an unexpected bonus of a couple thousand dollars. In an earlier blog post I wrote about the experience of a family member that was even more miraculous than a handful of money.

While we know, and I write OFTEN, that abundance is about much more than money; when we are facing a financial challenge, and we’ve done absolutely everything we can and still cannot figure out what to do: this process is a tool we can use. It not only helps turn around our current situation, but lays a foundation for a better tomorrow by changing the way we think about our financial circumstances.

For more reading on the principles of spiritual abundance, check out the following blog posts:

Manifesting 101
Restoration
Job for the New Thought Audience
Always Exciting
Always Provided
I Am Provided

If finances are a challenge for you – now or at any time – I encourage you to get a copy of The Abundance Book – available in many libraries, and for 99-cents as an eBook on Amazon. Walk the 40-day Abundance Journey and give yourself the gift of a new perspective. When you do, you’ll see the world open in front of you – in ways you have never imagined.

And so it is.

(C) 2021 Practitioner's Path

Class #3 – Radical Self-Forgiveness

Today we worked through the rest of Chapter 4 with the continued exploration of shame, and began to look closely at Chapter 5, and the 5 stages of Radical Self-Forgiveness.

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(C) 2021 Practitioner’s Path

The Hard Work of Healing

On this last day of January, I recall that in Religious Science, January is traditionally the month to explore the preface to the SOM textbook, focusing on The Thing Itself, The Way it Works, What it Does, and How to Use it. In my Sunday talk on 1/17/21 I explored a spiritual lesson from the biblical canon, which I loosely divide into 2 categories as they relate to New Thought:

• Hebrew scripture: many tales teaching about the existence of that POWER for Good (the Thing Itself, the Way It Works, & What It Does)
• Christian canon: many tales on HOW TO USE IT

In my talk I focused on the HOW TO USE IT portion, referencing the story of the women in the crowd from the book of Matthew. Keep in mind that in spiritual metaphysics, we see the biblical canon as one of many wisdom texts from different cultures and accept that they all teach the same spiritual Truths.

As the story goes, the teacher Jesus was drawing great crowds from around the region to hear him talk and teach. He was surrounded by a throng of people one day when a woman who had been sick for many years pushed her way toward him. She could not get his attention, but she pushed on, believing from all she had heard about him that if she could only touch his garment, she would be healed.

²⁰ And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:

²¹ For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. ²² But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Matthew 9:20-22

In traditional religious lore, much of the focus on this story has been on the reaction of Jesus – that he felt his power move, and his reaction, but I wanted to look at what it took for that woman to get to her healing. To do that, let’s look at some of the extraneous circumstances:

• She was anemic
• She was tired
• She was weak
• The crowds were intense
• This was a LOT of effort to touch the bottom of someone’s robe…

This was nothing less than an act of extraordinary faith on her part.

In the book “The Essential Ernest Holmes” we read:

“The invisible passes into visibility through our faith in it.”

Ernest Holmes

In the story of this woman, the INVISIBLE (the healing of her physical ailment) passed into visibility – came into reality – through her faith in the ability for this to happen.

Joel Goldsmith, author of a number of wonderful, spiritual books, wrote in The Infinite Way: “Faith does not concern the past or the future. Faith is an activity taking place in the present — now, only now!”

Right here, right now – as we face our own needs around healing, whether we are seeking physical healing, healing of our finances, healing of emotional or mental distress – the question for us is this: what is our plan to press through the crowd and touch the edge of the garment of Truth?

What are we willing to do right now?

Move into the unknown

By evidence of the fact that we participate in a spiritual organization, or read a spiritually-themed blog, I would assume that we all, at varying levels, have the belief that healing is a possibility.

The next question then becomes: are we ready, willing and ABLE to put forth the effort following at times an unclear path (keep in mind this woman was not heading out to a preset appointment – she was not even sure she would be able to claw her way through that crowd,… and still she went) on our journey toward healing?

I like to explain this in the modern context as getting up and putting one foot in front of the other, no matter how we FEEL, no matter what the APPEARANCE OF THINGS may be, no matter what OTHERS tell us is likely or probable. We must get up; we must keep pressing forward in the crowd – because we know (KNOW!) that when we touch even the edge of the garment of Truth – we are healed.

I have shared many of my own examples on this blog and in other talks. When I needed $15k for a new roof, the Prize Patrol did not knock on my door. But a tree fell on my roof and a part time, temporary job came into my experience. When I sought relief from my student loan payments, I did not win the power ball or suddenly find a long lost relative with a large inheritance for me. Someone walked into my office for a casual chat and in passing, mentioned the student loan program that was being used by his fiancé.

Something I haven’t written much about in the past was when I sought a physical healing. In 2013 a random blood test discovered that I had an elevated blood Calcium level. The diagnosis was hyperparathyroidism, and the only known and best prescribed cure was surgical removal of the diseased parathyroid gland.

I was early enough into my deeper spiritual journey that I fully intended to secure a miraculous healing with no medications and no surgery. I was a bit arrogant about it (within my own thoughts). What I got instead was the miraculous moving of INSURANCE mountains, the availability of a national EXPERT on thyroid/parathyroid surgeries for my surgeon, and a simple, safe, and effective surgical intervention.

Once I pivoted away from insisting on HOW I would heal, and opened myself to divine guidance and a willingness to do some really hard things (agreeing to surgery, the pre-op surgical testing,…), my Treatment work shifted and my Treatment demonstrated in the surgeon’s words to my parents, post-op:

We removed the diseased parathyroid gland and her PTH levels immediately dropped to normal – this was a textbook case, and she’ll be back to normal in short order.

In our personal healing quests, we must become like the woman in the biblical story. She did not wait for this traveling teacher/healer to come to her house and sit with her. She got up and MOVED into action: she treated and moved her feet. And she moved her feet in a way that was not easy; not clear; not even ASSURED – aside from her own, deep faith and conviction.

Jesus summed up the power of deep faith later in Matthew:

“…For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” 

Matthew 17:20

I suspect that when a booming voice comes from the clouds or a voice echoes out of a burning bush that it’s easier to expect a miracle than when we have to settle for touching the bottom of the robe of the prophet or teacher. That’s what makes the story of the woman in the crowd so extraordinary. She took a brief encounter, blended it with extreme faith and the willingness to do some hard things – and achieved results that had eluded her for more than a decade.

Today I am suggesting that we learn from this woman, and pivot to being willing to move into action, with a belief and a faith that is unshakable and unwavering. I am reminding myself as much as anyone else that we need to move forward with a willingness to accept that we may not know where the path leads but that we need to hold onto that faith, and do more than hope, wish and pray. We must be willing to do the hard work of healing, and then we will see the miracles unfold in front of us.

And so it is.

(C) 2021 Practitioner's Path

Class 2 available

We’ve completed Class #2 in our Radical Self-Forgiveness Workshop and the recorded lecture and handouts are now available.

This week we explore our lost and disowned selves as well as the Saboteur self. We begin exploring Chapter 4 and the impact and influence of GUILT and SHAME, understanding that they are very different emotions.

(C) Practitioner's Path 2021

Our sacred duty

In the canons of early spiritual metaphysics (now known as New Thought), it was taught that “The physical evidence of any teaching lies not in the authority or history of an organization, but in the ability of an individual to prove the teaching.” (Nona Brooks)

This week I experienced another “proof of the teaching” and wanted to share it here.

An article I wrote on Kindness as a Leadership Practice was published in a national professional journal as a feature. It was an honor on many levels, and the culmination of a journey that began around the same time as this blog, and it is indeed a “demonstration” of the application of these principles.

The important aspects of this should not be overlooked, and include the following:

• it did not manifest overnight (it’s been about a 6-year journey!)
• it required that I “treat & move my feet“
• it required that I walk through disappointments and still keep moving forward
• it showed up in a way that I was not expecting, but is still wonderful
• it came after many smaller “wins” that I acknowledged and was grateful for
• it was never assured or certain – I had to keep pressing on in faith

The principles of spiritual metaphysics are simple, but as Louise Hay taught, not always easy. One major reason they are not easy is that in our modern, cinematic world we have been anesthetized to the reality of miracles. We assume that they should be immediate, and must include a handsome prince/beautiful princess, a storybook castle and a happily ever after (you know what I mean). The “go big or go home” mindset has been terrible for our collective spiritual enlightenment.

The storybook expectations mask the mini-miracles that come along and that are essential to our spiritual growth and development; and this is FATAL to our long-term ability to rely on these principles. We must learn to crawl before we can walk, and walk before we can run. Too often, in the kingdom of the miraculous, we want to go from Misery Lane to Easy Street without doing our work: we want to run a marathon before we have learned how to walk.

The biggest problem with this is that when the BIG WIN doesn’t show up, we are tempted to “go home“, or return to a state of disappointment and non-belief – wondering why we allowed ourselves to be duped. This is unfortunate and wholly unnecessary.

Spiritual teachers must take care to pay attention to, and highlight the miracles of every size, shape and hue for in these stories lie the depth, breadth and strength of these ancient teachings.

Spiritual seekers have a part to play as well. Don’t lock in on the BIG, QUICK wins (e.g. winning the lottery). Look for the everyday miracles: the “green lights and parking spaces” that Louise Hay taught about. Feel grateful for the little ways of ease and grace, and know that your Good is always in motion, on its way to you.

Mary Baker Eddy taught:

“The place you seek is seeking you, the place you need is needing you. Divine Principle brings need and supply together for mutual good. God wisely, intelligently, and lovingly controls, guides, protects, prospers, and blesses this union of [God’s] idea and this joyous activity, work.”  

Mary Baker Eddy

All of us – teachers and students, guides and seekers – need to remember this Truth: Divine Principle brings need and supply together for mutual good.

And when we see it show up, we can be assured that more will follow if we acknowledge it, feel gratitude for its arrival, and keep moving forward. As such we are demonstrating the “physical evidence of [the] teaching” through the proof that showed up in our lives and we owe it to others who are seeking to share our experiences of Good.

We don’t do this to attract members, build empires or win “converts“. We share our demonstrations because we remember when we showed up in a class, at a Center or at a meeting and wanted, even needed, to know that there was a Power for Good in the Universe and that we in our desperate states, could somehow and in some way, use it to help get ourselves out of our messes and back on track.

We never know when someone who is hanging on to hope by a thread will hear our story, relate to our journey and hold on to their faith long enough to take another step forward. In this, our sharing becomes a sacred duty – part of our contract with our fellow travelers and seekers; a down-payment on the “debt” we owe to those who shined a Light for us when we showed up tired, weary and desperate.

As one of my early teachers always said, “This stuff works!“

Indeed it does – for me, and for you.

And so it is.

(C) 2021 Practitioner’s Path

Self-Forgiveness Class

We kicked off our first session of Radical Self-Forgiveness this morning, and the recorded lecture (separate from the class session for reasons of privacy) can now be viewed!

Our 2nd class session will be held on Saturday, January 30, 2021 beginning at 10:30am EST. For more information, click here.

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(C) 2021 Practitioner's Path