Welcome!
Today’s newsletter puts the spotlight on misplaced spiritual faith and trust.
 Wishing
you much love and light,
Jennifer
T. Grainger, B.Msc.
Founder: Spiritual Growth Community
| The Real Secret is Having No Attachment To The Outcome! |
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“I feel so betrayed by God” said Amanda (not her real name). With amazing courage Amanda shared with us her story of the loss and destruction of her life as she had known it. Having lost her house, her marriage and her business, she was starting all over again. “Well, one good thing,” she said with a wry smile and harrumph sort of laugh, “I sure do know who my friends are!”
My heart was heavy with compassion as I remembered my own “betrayal” by the Universe. I had believed that by becoming spiritually conscious and living a spiritual life I was guaranteed a life of comfort and ease.
Hah!
If you’ve read my book, Becoming Conscious, you may remember Chapter One begins with this sentence: “I’m afraid of heights and we didn’t have a gun; an overdose might leave me alive, but mentally incapacitated. A razor to my wrists was way too grizzly, and I’d heard that a person looked really ugly, all bloated and purple, from carbon monoxide poisoning. I wonder how long it would take to starve to death?”
I was in extreme, unrelenting pain from a case of Shingles (an offshoot of the chicken pox virus whose symptoms include excruciating nerve pain). I couldn’t believe that was happening to me when I had been so diligent on my spiritual journey. So, yes, I knew all about feeling betrayed by the Universe.
“I know what it’s like,” I said to Amanda, “having your belief system laying in shards at your feet, not knowing what to believe anymore. Thank you for your courage in showing up tonight and sharing your story so openly,” I said.
She responded with a twinkle in her eye, “I know where the light is.” I could see that she might be down, but she was definitely not out!
Although puzzled by her losses, she also acknowledged that when she was down to her last $10 and with no home to call her own, she received a call letting her know that a $20,000 settlement had come through on a claim she had filed years earlier. “And I am making tons of money in my new job,” she said. As close to the edge as she got, at the last minute, she was rescued. “But I am not able to do my spiritual work. That’s what I don’t get,” she lamented. “Doesn’t the Universe support us in doing God’s work?”
That night after everyone had left, I pondered Amanda’s situation and how it mirrored my own shingles experience years earlier.
Suddenly I had what Oprah calls a “light bulb moment.”
Oh, I get it. Where Amanda and I had gone “wrong” in our spiritual beliefs was that we believed if we put every ounce of our conscious attention and focus on the outcome that we wanted, we would get it. We thought that if we did everything “spiritually right” things would turn out as we had planned . . . and focused on . . . and affirmed. In fact, doesn’t The Secret teach us that? Doesn’t Abraham-Hicks teach us that? Doesn’t the Law of Attraction teach us that?
The truth is the Universe provides for us exactly what we need for our Highest Good. Sometimes that doesn’t match our idea of what would be good for us.
Then I remembered what Amanda had said near the end of the evening, “You know this is the first time in my adult life of 44 years that I am completely on my own. I went from my mother’s house to being married. And now, for the first time, I am completely on my own.”
Sometimes we need to acquire certain “pieces of the puzzle” before we are able to “hold” the thing we are wanting.
In an instant it became clear to me. Yes, Amanda is an awesome spiritual teacher. Yes, her work is powerful. Yet in order for her to be her most powerful Self there was a missing piece of the puzzle that needed to be filled before she could realize her full potential. Living independently will fill in the hole. Then watch out world!
BOTTOM LINE: Where you place your Faith and Trust has a lot to do with how you surf the chaos and navigate the flow of your life. When Faith and Trust is combined with Surrender to “what is” along with the belief that ultimately everything happens for your highest good you have a pretty good chance of experiencing more JOY and less struggle in your everyday life.
TIP: Surrounding yourself with people who are also growing spiritually will reinforce your positive viewpoint that everything that happens is for your highest good.
P.S. Remember although you are not in control, you can take charge of your life. Putting a positive spin on life’s events relieves stress and supports a healthy immune system.
P.P.S. There is a lot of truth to The Secret, Abraham-Hicks and The Law of Attraction. But what the Universe wants for our highest good will always trump our personality’s desires.
P.P.P.S. By the way, Surrender does not mean giving up. It means acknowledging “what is” and then taking appropriate action (or non-action as the case may be).
| Community Member’s Aha! Moments |
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 Do you have an Aha! Moment you’d like to share? How is Faith, Trust and Surrender working in your life? What do you think?
I
want to hear from you! Tell me about your
latest Aha! moment.
Love
Our next teleclass is Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 7 to 8 pm
“You’re Not in Control, But You Can Take Charge - PART II”
The Monthly Spiritual Gathering at my home is Wednesday, February 18, 2009 7 to 9 pm
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