Barbara's Blog

The Peace That Is Within You

Here is a wonderful prayer/meditation by Ernest Holmes called The Peace That Is Within You.

I just love reading it. If you are feeling sad or anxious... read this prayer slowly aloud and meditate on it. I guarantee you will feel better instantly.

"GOD is Peace. This Peace which God is belongs to man and is some part of his Spiritual Nature. Whatever God is in the Universal, man is in the particular. That nature of God is incarnated in every living soul.

   The Peace that is within you is not something separate from God. It is not something that bombards you from without. This Peace is something that expands from within. Always this Peace has been in you. Always this Peace has nestled at the center of your being, ready to reveal Its Perfection and Harmony.

   Peace stands at the door of your consciousness and awaits your acceptance of It. It does not stand outside waiting for entrance It stands inside waiting to be expressed in everything you do. If the possibility of your peace were dependent upon some external event, some outside circumstance, some objective fact, then you would not have a Principle of Peace within you. You would merely be hoping that one might either develop or be imposed externally.

   The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. Within you is the Kingdom of God, and within the Kingdom of God is Peace. A conscious knowledge of this Peace, coupled with a definite use of the Law of Mind, gives to each the possibility of freedom from the bondage of doubt, fear and uncertainty.  Peace is within you now. The Peace that passeth all human comprehension is there. The Peace that is at the very heart of the Universe is there. The Peace that said to the waves, "Be still!" is there. The Peace that healed the lunatic of his obsessing thought is in you. Peace is within you now - the Peace that stilled the tempest and walked the turbulent waters of human discord.

   Because God is Peace and because God is in you, the Peace of God must also be in you. You should no longer go in search of Peace, for this is confusion. Search Him not out, but seek Him at the center. He has always been there. The Spirit of Truth, speaking through the understanding of one who realized the Divine Presence, said Before Abraham was, I am. And, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

   Because Peace is within you, It is available. If It were somewhere else you would never find It. Act as though Peace already possessed your soul and It will possess it. Act as though Peace already emanated from your spirit and It will emanate from it. Speak Peace into confusion, and your peace will heal that confusion.

   This Healing Power is to be used and not merely believed in. There is a vast difference between believing in this Principle and using It. To believe in and understand this Principle is essential to the use of It.

   Peace is at the center of your own soul, It is the very Being of your being. This Peace which is at the center of your being has never been disturbed. It has never been afraid. It never desired to harm anyone therefore it has never been hurt. How, then, shall you use this great gift which nestles at the very center of your being?

    You are to use it consciously. You are to speak the Word of Peace wherever discord appears. And when you speak the Word of Peace let no doubt arise in your thought. You must know that Peace stills the tempest. You must know that your Peace has all Power because It is the Peace of God within you.

   The Peace which is at the center of your being was not born from human struggle, evolution, or accomplishment. It is something that always existed. It was not given by the world. The world cannot take It away. It remains Perfect, exactly what Is always has been. It awaits your recognition that you may enter into conscious partnership with It. And when you have joined the forces of your intellect with Its infinite calm your heart will no longer be disturbed, nor will it be afraid.

   Above the wind and higher than the whirlwind, enshrined in the Heart of God, there is Voice within you which says: "Peace! Be not afraid. It is I." This I is YOU. This YOU is God within you. This God within you is Peace." by Ernest Holmes

What about planning ahead?

Lots of people say planning ahead is a good idea and so important. I don’t agree.

In my experience, planning ahead is a bad idea. Why? Because things change – and as you all know – that is just the way of it. I know there are some raised eyebrows out there when I say planning ahead is a bad idea, so I will assure you right away that I realize some planning is absolutely necessary for survival in our world. Yes I do realize that.  I’ve had my own business for many years so I understand the importance of good planning, proper scheduling, meeting deadlines, delivering assignments, paying bills and salaries, and all that practical stuff. When I talk about planning ahead, I’m not talking about your basic business and family stuff that simply has to be done. What I’m talking about here is all the optional stuff like making choices about the future or for an unknown future that you believe is somewhere out there waiting for you.

Experience has taught me that if I want to live a happy life, I shouldn’t commit to anything in the future unless I absolutely have to or I am absolutely 100% sure about the matter. Why do I say this? Because when I stay in the moment, I find that the flow has its own inner knowingness about what’s right for this now moment – and it’s best to stay tuned to that and forget the rest. You can call it listening to your inner voice or being awake in the moment or feeling out situations or whatever you want to call it. But the reality is that every moment is unique and things change. I change. You change. Feelings change. The weather changes. Your kids change, your parents change, your partner changes. Quite simply, there’s nothing that doesn’t change, which makes committing to doing something far ahead in some unknown future risky business. I usually get in trouble when I do this because from the day I committed to the day the thing goes down, a hundred and one things can and do happen. And when the day in question dawns, everything looks quite different and chances are I don’t feel anything like I did on the day when I committed! Then I wake up feeling trapped instead of happy! Bad judgment!

I’ve done this so many times that one of my most important rules for keeping my life simple and happy is to stop planning for some imagined future.

What about airline tickets? My ex-boyfriend always said if you don’t book now the tickets will cost ten times as much. Especially if you like to wait to the very last moment like I do. And this is true. The closer you get to departure date, the more expensive tickets are. The same goes for booking holidays and stuff like that. Which is why I tend to stay home a lot. I simply don’t want to commit. And that’s my right and privilege as a human being. To not commit and stay home and make up my mind at the very last minute! And if that’s what it takes for you to live a happy life, I suggest you do it too!

It's called being true to YOU!

Under Grace in Perfect Ways

Else-Karin wrote and said she didn't quite understand what "under Grace in Perfect Ways" meant at the end of the last affirmation I posted on Feb 29.

The affirmation was: I am an irresistible magnet for all the Good the Universe has for me now! And it comes to me easily and effortlessly - under Grace in Perfect Ways.

So here's what I wrote back to her... Under Grace in Perfect Ways means “according to the Divine plan” in the sense that your Good comes to you without blocking or interfering with anyone else’s Good… that is what “in Perfect Ways” means… and under Grace is something like it’s “the gift of God”…J

Hope this helps.

Keeping the heart connection

When you start to find and experience the heart connection, it's a most blissful and wonderful experience. It's like coming home and resting in yourself.

But here's the question and the challenge... Can you maintain this heart connection when you're out in the world among people? Can you maintain the connection to your heart when you get caught up in the busy-ness of everyday living? In my experience, it can be difficult to do, especially if we get sucked into the insanity of all the "shoulds".  If  we lose ourselves in running after all the things we think we "should" do and feel in order to be happy. But if you can remember that all the "shoulds" in the whole universe will never make you happy, you can turn away from the collective madness of the "shoulds" and turn back to yourself and rest in your very own heart again. And when you discover that this really IS possible... well then you can be authentic, be who you are - and enjoy all  the love in your very own heart.  It's a great way to live.

The heart connection

The thing about crisis or feeling bad is that things get taken away from you. You lose your boyfriend or your money or your health or your peace of mind... and then you feel bad. And we're afraid of feeling bad - and then think there's something wrong with us for feeling bad because everything in our crazy society tells us we "should" always feel good, be successful, be in control, etc. And when things change or seem to go wrong, we are terrified because we don't feel good or successful or in control.

But I've noticed that when things get taken away from us something marvelous does happen - WE DISCOVER OUR HEARTS.  When things get taken away we find our heart connection. And it can be a very powerful and often scary discovery because we've never been there before. But if you can rest in your heart - if you can allow yourself to feel what you are truly feeling - you will begin to see the wonder and the wisdom that is buried in your very own heart. And then you will see that it's this very heart connection that everyone is seeking. Because it's authentic, because it's the real you, and because it's love...