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Church – The Power of the Experience
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Tag: trust
Me and My Faith – Following the Thread
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Is God Helping You Grow Your Courage?
I have been in physical pain for the last 4 weeks with a blocked ear. I didn’t think a blocked ear could cause so much pain. Sometimes I have just broken down and cried. Every day, though, I have got up with the intent of continuing my amazing life.
My life is amazing because I talk to God every day and he gives me interesting things to do and say and think. Even through the pain, that is something that can’t be taken from me. I am always waiting for the the next idea, the next direction, the next piece of inspiration.
Last night I learnt that the oil I am putting into my ear must be a certain temperature and the room needs to be a certain temperature too. I learnt that the hard way, and suffered for sleeping in a room not quite warm enough. Today I feel “Why? Why do have to feel so low today, so tired, so broken?”
Of course these are the questions I asked God and then He spoke to me of courage. He said that I should focus on my courage, rather than on the things I can’t do or feel I am getting wrong. God says that this is a lesson in believing in my courage.
And when my ear finally gets unblocked, I guess I will be that little bit stronger and a bit more courageous than I was before.
Coronavirus. Where is the Line Between Fear and Faith?
When I get past the feelings of the enormity of the crisis we all find ourselves in, I have some very charged feelings about a conflict between fear and faith, (both in myself and in the world). It seems difficult to find the line between them. Usually we know we are taking risk, like every time we get in our car. But now it has all gone very hazy. If I don’t wash my shopping, I live by faith. If I do, I live in fear. Then do I use soap? Do I leave it in the sun? See how fear breeds fear. (Incidentally I don’t wash my shopping.)
This is something I feel strongly about – fear breeding fear – and I see it as something that we are all going to find it very difficult move on from. I see faith as the antidote. I guess that is faith in God for me, but could be faith in goodness, faith in connection with others, faith in a higher source, faith in love, faith in the mystery. Whatever . . we’re going to need faith! This is all I know. Am I on my own here?
Blind Hope, Optimism or Faith? – I Know which one I choose.
“Faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.”
I have believed this for a long time and I always will.
Living by the Light – When I Struggle to Connect
Seeing the colours in the light gives to me clues as to why I may feel a certain way in my body or emotions, or why I am thinking certain thoughts. I don’t mean that I am just dependent on my connection with the environment. Far from it – I am always asking God what things mean and how to interpret the messages I get through my relationship with the light.
Today, for instance, I notice a lack of yellow, and this always causes me to feel less emotionally connected than usual. When I first realised this, I was quite devastated, thinking “How am I going to live if I don’t feel really emotionally connected all the time. Isn’t this what everyone is striving for?” But I have had to let go of that way of thinking. God has shown me that connection runs deeper than heart energy or hearts or being grounded or breath or stillness or emotion.
Connection is through the soul. It just is!
Living by the Light in January – Ask God what it is all about!
In my last post I said how God speaks to me through my relationship with the light. Today I want to give you an example of what I mean by this.
January isn’t that long after the winter solstice on 21st December so I am always amazed at how the light suddenly becomes brighter and more enlivening as soon as Christmas is past.
For me, though, the spectrum can feel imbalanced. I may be seeing more blue and violet light but I am struggling to see red light. I feel energised yet I don’t feel very grounded. And when I don’t feel grounded it is harder to process all of my sensitivities so it is harder to engage with my projects and with the world.
My reaction could just be frustration and defeat but I prefer the route of frustration and determination! If I don’t feel grounded it means I struggle to use the analytical part of my brain to work everything out and create plans. Another way of looking at is that I can experience more freedom and less control. I have to dig deep to find out what I should be doing. What helps is to give myself a role like ‘Path Forger’ or ‘Battler’ so if I am having a hard day I still feel some sense of purpose.
This year these were the roles I gave myself in early January. I was trying to work out how I could fit some music composing and crafting into my life to help me stay feeling more enlivened and positive this year. I studied some complicated computer software and taught myself a new knitting style! I didn’t manage to complete a project. I was just path forging. Then came a day of deep black cloud and I really felt stuck because I need light to feel good. That day I was thinking about my next way forward with my highly sensitive son. This gets beyond path forging at times. It turns into battling!
Now, having connected with those energies I have kept myself moving and motivated. Now I sense the light going through a more balanced phase I am ready and charged for more creativity like writing this post!
If you find yourself feeling challenged by your own feelings this January, go deeper, and find out what is there. Talk to God and ask what it is all about. As far as I can see, God is is the only one who really knows!
Call it Coincidence or Call it God – Your Choice!
I have a 12 year old who is scared of many things. He is scared of the electrical sockets in our house, the gas fire, the fact that he didn’t have chicken pox, a tiny speck of blood on his finger, an expression on someone’s face, the tone of someone’s voice . . . and the list goes on.
My son has light, colour, pattern and sound sensitivity. Life is naturally more scary to him than others. He is struggling to process all the colours, patterns and sounds in the world. And I totally understand his fear.
So . . . How Can I Help Him to be Less Fearful?
We have tried rationalising things, teaching him more about things like electricity and gas but it doesn’t seem to work. The only thing I can do for my son is to teach him about faith.
I find this pretty hard as my son has a very scientific mind and has learnt that he feels better when he is being very logical and systematic using the left side of his brain. And to live by faith we need to let go into the right side of our brain, where things aren’t rational and logical. They are more feeling based. This is where we make connections and see life as more of a whole, and start to wonder if there might be a bigger plan, and whether we might be part of it.
My son already lives by faith in a way. He often says that things don’t feel right, whether that is food, place, a person or an activity. And he is very strong on these things. However he is also open to change. He told me very strongly that he didn’t want to have anyone massage him the other day. Then when I walked out of a massage with a very nice lady in a very nice place, he said ‘Actually, I think I would like to have a massage!’
When I spoke to my son about faith this morning, I could see deep down that he found it comforting and he said “Well it was a bit of a coincidence that we found our white doves the way we did!” We had been to a pet shop and we spoke to the lady there of my son’s love of pigeons. We had decided to buy a smaller variety of doves called diamond doves, but when we next went to the pet-shop there were 3 beautiful white garden doves in one of the aviaries. They had lost their mother and the lady at the pet-shop had hand reared them. We all knew they were waiting for us!
Call it coincidence or call it synchronicity or go for all out comfort and call it God!
Christianity – A Message Written in My Heart
Many years ago I found myself on a course to become a Shiatsu Practitioner. I’d been suffering with chronic fatigue and became fascinated with energy work as a way to understand my illness and healing. I was a long way from full recovery but just about found the strength to drive the 70 miles from Somerset to Totnes in Devon every few weekends to attend my course. Having arrived there I then had to find the strength to learn something new that challenged me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually!
The biggest challenge for me was spiritual. Within the philosophy of Shiatsu there didn’t seem to be any room for a relationship with a personal God. I found myself floundering and lost within a belief system that saw God as more of a cosmic force and us as metaphysical beings. The most significant thing to me was the absence of grace as I was told I had to work at my connectedness. It seemed that God couldn’t simply flow in me and through me to heal others. I had to do energy exercises, breathing exercises and meditation to work up the chi. I was insensed, enraged by this challenge to everything that I had found so dear, so beautiful and so meaningful. Why couldn’t I just work with the connection I already had – permanent and unchanging?
I struggled to understand this new philosophy and to try to reconcile it with my own experience for 2 years. I even created my own approach to Shiatsu that I called Shiaki based on a more Christian philosophy. I found myself speaking up for Christianity – the wonder of relationship with God and the gift of grace – at every twist and turn of my course. I was utterly amazed by my zeal and conviction as I had no idea that I would go out on a limb like this in a situation where no-one else shared my experience or beliefs. It was as if God had lit a fire in my heart and nothing could quench it.
Today I still feel the Christian message. If people try to discuss doctrine with me I feel my energy sink and become almost troubled. I don’t have all the answers and some days I don’t know exactly what I believe but as I live my life I become more and more aware that the message of Christianity is written in my heart
Holding Hands with God 