Ministries & Spirituality

Everyday spirituality is found within all of us.  From your first day on this earth you have been influenced by the ideas of society telling you what kind of person you should be.  These ideas and life events molded and shaped you into who you are today.   Your inner spirit has taken a back seat crowded out by all these ideas and notions of who you are and how to live your life. 

Seeing Spirituality Everyday

Look past the physical, look beyond it into each individual’s spiritual center.  Use your awareness to recognize it in all beings.  The best way to begin is to set the mood by just think of the people and things that make you happy:



your loved ones



the sounds of happy children 



the sounds of nature on a quiet spring day



a neighborly act of kindness



a peaceful time for meditatiom



reading a good book or inspirational story 



listening to your favorite music





 You can and will experience an “aaah haaa” moment when you come to rediscover your own inner spirituality and that of the world around you.   If you recognize all the good in your life and give it attention and recognition you will experience the spirituality that surrounds you everyday.

Spirituality is all around you, what is spirituality?  I like this definition of spirituality: “Spirituality is that which relates to or affects the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.”  Spirituality touches that part of you that is not dependant on material things or physical comforts.

You can bring spirituality into your everyday life.  You can find it in everyone you encounter and everywhere you go.  We are all spiritual beings deep within, if you look beyond the trappings of this material world.  If you do this you will see spirituality in your everyday life.

Build Your Awareness of Everyday Spirituality

Make a note to yourself that as you go through everyday tasks and events you will remember to find the spiritual aspects of whatever it is you are doing.  Bring your awareness into the here and now, you are not thinking ahead or thinking of what has past, you are in the moment.  Practicing being completely in the moment is an excellent way to build your awareness of spirit.

Choosing to see the good in all people and things is the way to tune into your spirit within.  You will no doubt encounter people that make it difficult to recognize their inner spirit.   Everyone has a spiritual center; it is just that some are not ready to open to that part of their being yet.  But your recognition of it and the way you treat that individual can help open that door for them if only a little bit, you have made a difference in that person’s life.

Listen to the voice within the voice of your inner spirit and it will guide you to take right action every time.

Live Your Best Life Now!

Make today a new beginning live in and through your spiritual center.  Remember the small things in life that truly make you smile.  When you find yourself in a negative frame of mind just recall the things that make you happy.  The positive events and people in your life will help diminish the affects of that negativity.

It is not an easy task but with practice it will become second nature and you will gain so much.  Your life will start to evolve into the life you’ve dreamed of.  Take one step at a time build your awareness of everyday spirituality by recognizing it in the people and things around you. 

Start living your best life now, start recognizing the spirit in you, and the spirituality that surrounds you.

http://www.livingwordsofwisdom.com

http://www.livingwordsofwisdom.com/the-voice-within.html



By: Shirley Marotta

About the Author:

In the Western world we have moved further and further away from the examination of mental processes and how they impact upon the way in which our lives unfold.  This can be seen in many areas of our lives; we abrogate responsibility for how we feel to circumstances, other people – anything and everything other than ourselves and how we think. 

                                                                                    

Take health, for example.  We constantly look for a physical cause and not a mental one, when in fact both physical and mental forces are likely to be working together to effect a physical symptom.  Depression can be caused just as easily by how you think about things as by a chemical trigger in your brain.  The two causes tend to be intertwined.  But it is less painful to go to the doctor for pills than it is to take the time to introspect and examine ones thoughts and feelings or to face the reality of one’s circumstances; or is it less painful?  In the short term perhaps this is the case, but in the long term I very much doubt it.

 

And if we ignore the mental, we completely bury the spiritual.  We all too easily close our minds off to this seemingly intangible aspect of the universe in which we reside.  And yet, we do pay some lip service to spiritual wisdom.  Most of us accept the truth in the quotes from the ancient Greeks, Buddha or other sages.  Even those who are “non-believers” are happy to listen to such pearls of wisdom and accept them as the truth, whilst closing their minds to the real source of such wisdom.

 

In the Eastern world spirituality has been preserved throughout the centuries.  And in the West, there is clearly a gradual return of spiritual awareness which can be seen in the volume of contemporary books being written on the subject and also the content of numerous television documentaries. I myself notice it in the growing number of people who purchase hypnosis downloads and hypnosis recordings relating to matters of spirituality.

 

Why is it so important that we grow in spiritual awareness?  We are all multidimensional beings.  We are mind, body and spirit.  Everything in life is made up of energy and has its own energy frequency.  Everything and everyone has their own electromagnetic field.  We send out electrical frequencies through our very thoughts and we correspondingly magnetize electrical frequencies into our lives. 

 

You can choose to add more power to your thoughts as you tap into the power of the universe.  Some people refer to this as the collective unconscious, others think of it more in terms of a higher being.  This is not at cross purposes with any religion or faith you may have.  Every religion agrees that there is a higher being, a source of all things, and you can approach spirituality in the light of your particular faith.  If you are not of any particular religion you can apply spirituality in a manner which is comfortable to you – be it thinking in terms of the collective unconscious, or a higher being.

 

Most of us are very set in our beliefs and do not question things enough.  People are far more comfortable seeking a physical cause as opposed to a psychological one – let alone a spiritual one.  Yet to ignore your spirit being, you ignore the real you.  Your spirit is where your inner wisdom comes from.  It is your higher self.  You can easily tap into your spiritual side, and in so doing you will become more aligned and in tune with source, with the higher you.

 

There are certain laws of the universe which, once you are aware of them, you can choose to consciously apply.  Sometimes this is called cosmic ordering.  From a scientific viewpoint, your thoughts have energy, and as you focus on something and energize that thought with a lot of emotion and are consistent in your thoughts, you will magnetize what you want into your reality.  From a spiritual perspective, as you ask the universe, the collective unconscious, the higher source for something, and believe that it will be provided, and are again consistent in your thoughts, the universe will make it happen.

 

A journey into spirituality will allow you to feel more in tune with your higher self, to feel aligned with source.  You will feel that you can open your mind more to your inner wisdom and to the wisdom of the universe; you will find your true self, and your purpose and inspiration in life.  As you pay attention to your spirit self and acknowledge who you really are you will experience an incredible feeling of freedom, inspiration and purpose in your life.

 

As you allow yourself to entertain the realms of spirituality you will feel that you have moved from damp darkness into warm bright sunlight.

 

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis downloads.



By: Roseanna Leaton

About the Author:

 

The reasons may include:

 Liking for their type of spiritual practice like ritualistic worship, recitations of holy verses, reading Holy texts, visiting temples, mosques, churches etc, doing meditation, yoga, etc.,

Thinking that they have to stop their current form of spiritual practice in order to start chanting the Name of God as a spiritual practice. Resistance in exploring something new.

 The following are our suggestions to our readers in such cases:

 Augment any spiritual practice: To begin chanting the Name of God, one does not have to stop one’s current form of spiritual practice, but in fact, can augment it with chanting.

 Improves current spiritual practice: It is the experience of many seekers that chanting has, in fact qualitatively improved their current form of spiritual practice. For example, seekers have noticed a greater level of concentration and devotion when chanting during ritualistic worship, studying holy texts, meditation, etc.

Continuity in spiritual practice: Continuity in spiritual practice is very important for spiritual growth. Continuity in spiritual practice can be accomplished best through chanting. Since one can chant mentally, it can be done anytime, anywhere and even during other activities. Thus it helps one to maintain continuity in whatever form of spiritual practice that one is following currently.

 Regular and continuous chanting:

 Results in tranquility of mind thus benefiting one both at a mental as well as physical level.  Further facilitates development of faith and devotion thus acting as a spiritual remedy.

 Recommended for the current era: According to the science of Spirituality, chanting the Name of God as per ones religion of birth is the recommended foundation of spiritual practice in the current era i.e. the Era of Strife (Kaliyuga). Hence, seekers who are already doing some form of spiritual practice are encouraged to commence the spiritual practice of chanting as a tool to augment their current spiritual practice. Refer to the 5th basic principle of spiritual practice.

Added benefit: Only if one tries something new for sometime can they see if it will benefit them. Else one may pass up a good opportunity to strengthen their spiritual practice.

 More at: Chanting

 

 



By: Sean M. Clarke

About the Author:

For The Bible Tells Me So is about how deeply Christian parents respond and relate to their children when the child comes out of the closet and announces his or her sexual preference.  The story is told from the perspective of five normal, real-life adult homosexual children and their families.  The families struggle with love for the child and the competing desire to do the right Christian thing. A literal interpretation of the Bible, for example, would mean the child is bad, wrong and sinful in the eyes of God.  This DVD is important because it asks us to consider whether the Bible provides an excuse to judge and hate homosexuals.  Several Biblical experts and prominent citizens talk about how a literal interpretation of select phrases from the Bible leads to a gross misinterpretation.  As one of the experts says, “There’s nothing wrong with a 5th grade understanding of God as long as you’re in the 5th grade.”



Overview

The movie starts with 1977 video footage of Anita Bryant, the Christian activist and former beauty queen, singer and celebrity endorser of commercial products.  We see the magnificent Anita making anti gay statements.  She is wholesome, righteous, full of her Godly mission, and very sure of herself.  Then a gay guy in a suit calmly walks up to her and throws a cream pie right in her face.  A friend sitting next to Anita reminds her to forgive the pie thrower.  Visibly shaken and sometimes crying, Anita extends the typical Christian version of forgiveness.   “Father,” she says, “I ask him to be forgiven and that we love him and pray for him to be delivered from his deviant lifestyle, Father.”  The chance to witness such a perfect example of the ego-based act of forgiveness is reason enough to see this movie.  Through Anita we come to a new awareness, and it’s this:  ego-based forgiveness is actually a subtle act of attack and hate rather than the love and goodness it pretends to be.  Most of us routinely forgive from an I’m better than you or you’re the bad one posture.

Each child tells about the recognition of self as homosexual, how and when parents were told, and what happened next.  We meet Imogene and Victor Robinson.  Gene, their son, is now the first gay Episcopalian bishop in New Hampshire.  We meet the Brenda and David Poteat who have a lesbian daughter, Tonia.  David says when his children were born he made a prayer to God.  “God, please don’t let my son grow up to be a faggot and my daughter a slut.”  Then with tongue in cheek he tells us that God “didn’t do that.  He reversed it.”  Jane and Dick Gephardt’s lesbian daughter, Chrissy, talks about how she was worried her coming out might spoil her Dad’s campaign for president.  Phil and Randi Reitan’s youngest son, Jake, realized he was gay when he was in middle school.  When he told his parents, Phil said “it hit me so hard I felt like I had just had a death.”  And lastly we meet Mary Lou Wallner.  Her lesbian daughter, Anna, committed suicide after being rejected and troubled by her mother’s reaction to her coming out. 

All five stories are emotionally moving, but it’s Mary Lou’s story that makes you cry, and her story stays with you long after the movie is over.  Anna told her mother about her homosexuality when she was away in college.  Mary Lou wrote a letter back to her saying, “I will never accept you…what you’re doing is spiritually and morally wrong…and I will always hate this in you.”   At the time, Mary Lou’s opinion was strongly shaped by the church she was attending.  According to the church, homosexuality wasn’t just a sin; it was the sin of sins.  After her daughter’s death, Mary Lou began independently researching homosexuality.  She discovered that gay people are 3-7 times more likely to commit suicide.  They feel excluded.  They feel like God doesn’t want them.  They feel like there’s no place for them in the church.  “Now instead of taking the Bible literally, I have to take it in the context of the day in which it was written.  I believe differently than the way I was raised.”  Mary Lou still attends church, but it’s not the same church. 

Relevance

We know that love does not attack, and we know that love does not separate.  Therefore, if words from any source are interpreted in a way that justifies judgment and condemnation of our brothers and sisters, then our interpretation of those words must be mistaken.  The Bible has 6 or 7 verses that speak directly to homosexual conduct.  Picking out these highly selective passages draws attention away from the whole message of love and focuses on a minor flaw in the message.  It’s like looking at a tiny freckle and saying the freckle is what’s most important and most relevant about a whole person.  The word abomination, for example, is used in the Bible and is frequently quoted as God’s opinion about homosexual activity.  “If a man lies with another man, it’s an abomination.”  Yet modern day Biblical experts tell us that abomination needs to be re-interpreted within the context of the time in which it was used.  Our current interpretation of abomination means extreme disgust, hatred and loathing, but during Biblical times abomination referred to a violation of a ritual requirement, such as the ritual requirement of marriage.  The Bible also says that it’s an abomination to eat shrimp.  It’s an abomination to co-mingle crops.  It’s an abomination to weave linen and wool together.  All of these other literal interpretations of the word abomination have been deselected from our attention, forgotten and ignored. 

Desmond Tutu, the South African winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and a featured guest in the movie, said, “I can’t imagine that God would punish you because you’re black, not white.  I can’t imagine that God would punish you because you’re a woman, not a man.  And I can’t imagine that God would punish you because you’re a homosexual, not a heterosexual.”



Conclusion

This movie won many well-deserved independent film/documentary awards.  From the pie-in-the-face Anita Bryant moment to the heartbreaking story of Anna Wallner’s suicide, it grabs your attention and holds it.  It’s a compelling, authentic account of what it’s like to be a Christian homosexual in this millennium.  But even more importantly, For the Bible Tells Me So asks viewers to quit playing with homosexuality as a reason to block the love that is our truth.  Do yourself a favor and see it. 

DVD Title: For the Bible Tells Me So

Produced and Directed By:  Daniel Karslake

Distributor:  First Run Features

Copyright: 2007

 



By: The Spiritual Reviewer

About the Author: