New Year’s Eve 2009: In this wonderful opportunity to celebrate a purposeful life anew, what is the most important expression of our lives that we want to share with the world? For me since I can remember, it has been love. But to learn about love the universe doesn’t always send us easy people to love. We do get our competency models, but we also get those who challenge us to love even when the ship is stinking, I mean sinking… sort of.

I was challenged by someone very near and dear to me, my mentally handicapped daughter, Mary. She would say terrible things to me, like “I hate you Mom!” It hurt. I cried, even though in my heart I wasn’t sure she knew what she was saying, but I knew that she did mean to hurt me. She and I had been doing an ego dance for a few years, and it wasn’t working. Finally the teachings of “A Course in Miracles” kicked in.

I asked myself what the one thing was that I wanted her to know during all the seeming conflicts. It was that I loved her. One of my many nicknames for her was “Bird”. I practiced saying, “I love you anyway Bird,” and began using it. It was as much for my benefit as for hers. Learning to say this right after her zinger prevented me from saying other things that I might have regretted, and that weren’t the truth. It’s ever so much harder undoing a conflict, rather than not getting into one. The arguments became fewer. In the last year of her life I can’t even remember any. 

An added benefit was that I found myself saying or thinking, “I love you anyway, “ to people who were upset in traffic, or rude in other ways. I affirmed that I loved them in the true sense. They are perfect in Spirit. The rest of this is a dance, and I do my best to choose carefully what dance I choose to dance. I also say it to myself, maybe more than anyone.

Happy New Year everyone! May there be lots and lots of Love and love in it!  I love you Bird wherever you are!

Frequently when I ask Jesus what He would like to say, and tune in the best that I can, I hear, “Tell the people I love them.” So I’ve said it again, and I’m hoping that this time you will truly take the time on this holy day, or any other day made holy by your intention, to be still… and feel the Love of Jesus for you.

Most of us who have ever studied Christianity understand that Jesus loves us. Yes, that is what He came to do, and isn’t it a lovely idea!! A representative of the kingdom of heaven has come to earth in a form that remembers that we are one with God, and truly loved!!! But how many of us have actually opened our hearts enough to relax, and be healed in that love?

Spirit is not lodged in our physical brains, and most of us operate from there.  Our mental program is running all the time, even when we try to shut it off. But it can be done, and we need to do so to truly FEEL the love Jesus gives. It can be life changing. 

Begin by forgiving everyone who has ever hurt you, understanding that what occurs in our 3-D world can be changed in our minds, and has no ability to affect the loving Spirit that we are. Now here’s a little acronym I coined to help me open. Use any or all of it, or none. Be the scientist, and do what works; but don’t quit till you feel the love. If you don’t feel it this time, you’ll get it another. It’s always waiting for us. We just have to believe we deserve it, and then take the time to clear our heads.

L-Love   You can start by thinking, “I love you God”, repeating and opening to the idea. You’ll soften, and relax. Send love to any body part or idea that distracts you.

I – Interested:  Be interested and enthusiastic about what might occur. It’s O.K. to expect a miracle. Miracles occur in the medium of love. They may or may not have physical manifestations. They will make a difference in your being.

S – Sincere: Be your sincere, authentic self. No need to try to be holy or perfect. God sees and loves your perfect spirit. The mistakes we’ve made will fall away in time, along with this everything else in this 3-D world.

T- Time: Take time to savor this if you can. It takes awhile to go from mental thinking to opening up to the Love of God. If unwanted thoughts enter in, just love God, and return to opening to receive it. GOD WANTS YOU TO RECEIVE IT!

E- Endearing:  These moments are so special, creating a special bond between you and God. In your whole day, these minutes may be the closest to being eternal that you may live.

N- Non-judgmental: Don’t judge the experience. Judgment occurs in the mind, and we’re learning to escape from the ego’s hold. We’re not capable of judging anyway.

 

Happy Everything!

By what credential, you might ask, can Annaleah Atkinson state what the best gift would be to give to anyone? So I ask you, what is real? What has true meaning? What will last forever? It’s Love…. With a capital L. It’s not the petty collective ego love that says, “I love you because you make me feel better.” It’s the Love that can even state in the middle of a terrible argument or right after being insulted, “I love you anyway.”

This Love is not seeing with our body’s eyes, or interpreting with our ego perceptions. It sees our beloved human family as whole, complete, perfect expressions of Love. It “sees” with our holy self’s heart. Things can get pretty gnarly in the ego’s perception, but the Holy Spirit can always see the Love that is our true nature.

Luke Skywalker finally refused to fight Darth Vader because he didn’t want to fuel the hate which powered the Empire. When Darth Vader saw what was going on, it awakened the Love within him! That’s our goal! Keep seeing our brothers and sisters, and ourselves as wonderful loving expressions of our Beloved, Loving creator, and we will draw it out in them, and feel it more in ourselves.

I do understand that people perceiving with the ego mindset would not be happy with “Love” as a gift. It isn’t valued by our society by too many people right now, but it will be what will save our  Earth race, if we can save it. So we just have to accept that we’ll have to wrap up another package, and hope that it reflects the True Love that we feel for them. Luckily, the Holy Spirit will hold the Love we give and send until the receiver can truly accept it.

A homemade gift is really one of the best, but frequently not honored. My Nana Roberts made me a pair of burgundy colored mittens when I was 7. They had a lovely white angora stripe by the wrist. She was thinking about me, and loving me when she was knitting them for me, wanting my little fingers to be warm in the cold. I much preferred the doll someone else gave me. I hope I was well-mannered enough to say thank-you. She was on a very tight budget. But now, I cherish them. Just wanted you to hear it Nana! I get it, and the love you felt for me. I love you enough now, for all time. The mittens are gone, like any other 3-D gift, but I'm still wrapping myself in the Love that generated them.

 

Rarely are authors or film directors able to edit their own material, because they are so caught up in it. They hire professionals to help make the meaning they wish to convey clear to others in the world. So it is with us when we decide to live a holy life. We call upon the Holy Spirit as editor!. Since one’s experience in this 3-D  world is a projection of our own ego, we see life our own personal way with us in the center of it. We understand relationships and events through our own personalities’ interpretations. Sometimes we end up on these wild tangents. We may end up having serious arguments, just to win the argument. Do we stop to consider that we may win the argument but lose a friend or ally?

The Holy Spirit is able to give us a more universal, sacred perspective. Those precious words in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done.” If taken seriously put us under the wing of the Holy Spirit. Beloved Creator is in another dimension from the 3-D plane, but Holy Spirit links our minds to all minds, as if our little “computer” was linked to all the computers…. Which it is. We still don’t want to stay stuck at 3-d thinking, and Holy Spirit offers us the thinking to get beyond that.

We can train our egos to begin to think more universally and spiritually. When we want to undertake something, we might just ask ourselves, “Why”? What am I hoping to receive from this? And then really look at it. Who stands to gain from this undertaking? Or as the ACIM manual states, “What am I doing this for?”  Is it to bring me closer in some way to the universality of all life, or is it to glorify my ego or personality self and get something that I want? And yes, sometimes we can have both. The ego can learn, but like owning a pet tiger, you have to watch it .

When Jerry Jampolsky came out with his book, “Do you want to be Happy or Do you want to be Right”, my ego immediately said, “Well I want to be happy and right.” I was amazed that I still continued to get into arguments that proved my rightness. That was partly because in my family, it was not good to be wrong. But now, about 30 years later. I find myself just getting out of arguments when they begin to get “hot”. I’ve said things like, “ Our experiences have led us to have different perceptions, and both are right for us,” or “Thank you for sharing your perspective with me.” What is it for? Is the argument to share ideas or to prove some mental superiority? If you’re right, your opponent will find out eventually in most cases...in due time.

The Holy Spirit is that little voice inside that nudges us with a bit of discomfort when the ego begins to snort and stomp. I have learned that that is my signal to pay attention and focus. The Holy Spirit is editing my projection. What kind of a movie do I really want?

I awakened at 4:30 this morning with the melody of Handle's Messiah and the words, "The glory of the lord is written upon thee." I couldn't go back to sleep and therefore considered it a signal from Beloved to share it with you. As I looked up which chorus it came from, and found it, I saw that Beloved had edited it in my dream state! The passage is from Chorus #9, "O Thou that tellest Good Tidings to Zion". In the oratorio the angels are telling the people of the birth of the beloved Christ child, and the actual words are “The glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” I certainly agree with that! In my life Jesus has been a glorious, loving, personally involved teacher.

I also believe that our Beloved creator wants us to know that we are loved in the same way as Jesus.  Yes, the same way, because the glory of the Lord is written upon us! In truth we are pure spirit, lovable, magnificent, loving, eternal, glorious spirit.  Oh well, my outer body and personality might not always reflect that, but if I take time to tune into my True Self I can feel it. The easiest way for me to tune in, after years of trying different methods, of which most have helped, is to focus on something I want to love. Sometimes I just love God! I can feel my heart swelling, and I actually smile a bit. I open to receive the love back. In that moment I am connecting with what Is, to the best of my ability. Sometimes I can’t just love God, because my ego is in a snit about something, and usually that involves someone.

I believe that is why Jesus said, “Before you pray, make it right with your brothers.” [my words]. If I’m upset about something, my dial just isn’t tuned into the high vibrational frequency needed to connect with Spirit. God is spirit, and grudges are nothing in truth. A grudge is my ego’s attempt to distract me from the glory of the Lord that is written upon me. A grudge is always the result of some bodily or personality fear, which also fall away in truth.

Sometimes our “brothers” and sisters don’t want to make things right with us. This happened to me last month. Someone got angry with me, but never told me what about. I wanted to make peace, and emailed, but emails were not accepted, and were returned. I was told by a mutual friend to call. So I did and left a message, but my call wasn’t returned. I still made it right with my brother. I recognized the truth of his beautiful spirit, and then of mine. I asked the Holy Spirit to help me know how to solve this situation in 3-D if it was possible, but in the meantime I knew it was solved in Spirit. I felt release and peace, and then God’s love. I was high for hourse, and I know that in time that we will both recognize our Oneness.

And here is another line from Handel that helps, “He trusted in God that He would deliver Him” from chorus #28. That’s what we’ve got to do, trust!. Somehow our egos got us tangled up in the conflict, but the Holy Spirit that can see things in this world can get us out in the most appropriate way. Did my friend ever call me back? No, but the love that I feel and sent will be held for him by the Holy Spirit until such a time as it can be accepted. We have until the end of time, right? In the meantime I choose to see the Glory of the Lord written upon us.