by Lori | Jul 1, 2016 | Blog
I will admit it. I have been struggling with the concept of Divine Gratitude.
Readers of my blog know I teach and believe that we are all aspects of the God/Goddess All That Is / Source. Source is all there is and we are a part of it. We are unique aspects of this wondrous universal (perhaps “multiversal”) energy of Source. This is the key point to the teachings of Standing in the Light® programs and classes.
Another fundamental aspect of the SITL classes is that in order to consciously create we must hold the intention of what we want to create and the energies of Divine Love, Divine Surrender, Divine Detachment, Divine Trust and Divine Gratitude plus whatever qualities of what you are trying to create – such as a car, house, or new job. However, no matter what we are trying to manifest or create, we must be holding the first five energies sufficiently to bring our intention into form.
These are the reasons each of the five energies is necessary:
- Divine Love – to know and understand ourselves as love with the self-worth and self-confidence to bring the creation into form.
- Divine Detachment – to not be concerned how and when the creation comes into form.
- Divine Trust and Divine Surrender – to be willing to trust and surrender to what the highest plan is and to trust and surrender to our own ability to bring it into form.
- Finally, Divine Gratitude – to be willing to show gratitude and be grateful prior to something coming into form. (Anyone can show gratitude after what he/she is trying to manifest comes into form, but the master shows it before it is created with the confidence that it will be created.)
What I was struggling with was the intersection of knowing I am an aspect of Source and therefore ultimately I am Source with the idea of giving gratitude to the Source that I am. Why would I need to give gratitude to an energy source that I am?
What I figured out was I was under one of two possible misconceptions. First, I was misunderstanding that the gratitude I was giving was to some benevolent energy outside of myself that needs me to give gratitude to it as if I was borrowing its car on a Saturday night. At least this misconstrued gratitude was to a benevolent Source because the second one wasn’t. The second misunderstanding was that I was giving gratitude to an energy that wasn’t quite so benevolent as if I was a supplicant or subject needing to show unconditional gratitude out of fear of reprisal if I didn’t.
Having been able to see through these two misconceptions, I finally realized that the gratitude I was giving and feeling was to and for myself, myself as this wonderful aspect of Source. I needed to allow the gift of the energy and joyful feeling of Divine Gratitude for all the many wonderful qualities and frequencies that I hold ethereally which come into form physically because of the universal law of like attracts like. Because I am holding a certain cocktail of frequencies, I attract those physical manifestations to me.
That is what I have to be grateful for: feeling, knowing and being the state of total enjoyment of what has been created and honoring that creation. That is what Divine Gratitude is. That is what we need to know and be in order to bring any intention into form. The knowingness of the Joy of Gratitude.
Want to read more about Gratitude? Check out these two blog entries by Ginger Withee and myself. https://iamstandinginthelight.com/the-grace-of-gratitude/ and https://iamstandinginthelight.com/grace-and-gratitude-two-ideas-whose-time-has-come/
by Lori | May 11, 2016 | Blog
Are you an Outlander fan, like me? Reading the Outlander series has given me cause to question how I might act if I were in similar situations as the characters.
The Outlander series is a time-traveling love story written by Diana Gabaldon. There are eight books in the series with the ninth coming out soon. Gabaldon has also written many short stories and side stories involving the same characters. Gabaldon’s books and characters are so popular that Starz has turned them into a cable TV series.
I am currently reading book number seven, An Echo in the Bone. I won’t go too far into spoiler mode but I need to give a little background in order to tell you what I have questioned about myself while reading the books.
The main characters in Outlander are Claire, an English World War II nurse, who time travels to 1743 Scotland where she meets our hero, Jamie, a Scottish Highland warrior. Jamie, although enamored with Claire, is not enamored with “outlanders” the derogatory term for the English. Claire eventually shares her time travel secret with Jamie and convinces him of her knowledge of the future, since it is history to her.
From the beginning of the shared knowledge, Claire and Jamie debate whether it is possible for two people to change the future. Although an ongoing theme, my metaphysical questions didn’t really come to me until reading An Echo in the Bone. Here comes the spoiler alert!
In An Echo in the Bone, Jamie and Claire are now living in the British Colonies of North America thirty odd years forward from when they first met in 1743. The Declaration of Independence of 1776 has been declared and for a few years running up to that, the British subjects in the North American Colonies are deciding whether to stay loyal to England or to take up the cause of those opposing the English King.
Claire knows the outcome of the war even when almost no one, including the rebelling colonists, would have predicted it.
The questions metaphysically are, if you had the insight and knowledge that Claire has regarding the outcome of the war between the rebelling colonies and Britain, how would you act? What would you do? Would you keep your eye on the end game? Would you work to help others see the truth of the revolutionary cause? Would you experience your outer world more calmly because you know how it will end? Or would you continue to be in fear because of the potential of dying in the war, regardless of the final outcome? Would you have the courage to move forward or would you move to a region of the world not affected directly?
These are basically the same questions we can ask ourselves regarding the experiment in duality. If we know the final outcome will be that everyone and everything on Mother Earth will remember who we truly are, will return home to the oneness of Source, would we have the courage to move forward regardless of how chaotic and physically challenging we see the outer world? Will we allow ourselves to move through the layers of our fear to our own evolution where we might be able to help others see the truth of this seemingly revolutionary cause? Or would we, with the knowledge that we have, try to deny the inevitable by staying with the status quo of the third-dimensional world even when we know that is not ultimately sustainable?
Asking and answering these questions will not change the final outcome. We all do make it home, even those who are trying to stay in the third-dimensional reality because that is all they know or because it is where they believe their power base is. All make it home because we are already home. We are already God/Goddess All That Is. However, the answer to the questions will determine how much joy we have in the journey and perhaps how much joy we can help others to experience, as well. There is no judgment from Source / God/Goddess All That Is regarding how long we exist in the experiment in duality. Time is also an illusion so there really isn’t a “how long we exist in the experiment” concept either. You can be the first on your block to adopt the revolutionary idea of evolving out of the experiment and remembering who you are even when all evidence to the contrary in your outer world might lead you to believe that the status quo is the only option you have. Don’t worry about holding onto the old paradigm. Master the illusion and move into the new paradigm. The new world awaits.
by Lori | Apr 6, 2016 | Blog
As readers of this blog know, I am a new puppy guardian. The universe has been giving me great messages through this new experience for me. Today’s message is Divine Power and Freedom through Divine Surrender.
Recently, my friend and teacher, Marsha Hankins wrote a book called, Ascension, The End of Duality, Published by Balboa Press and available online at http://amzn.to/1W9XswR. Marsha arranged a teleconference to answer questions that any of her readers might have. On the conference, Marsha was addressing the need for us to surrender to our own Divine Will. She suggested that we all tap into the energy of an ascended master to see how the ascended master felt about Divine Surrender.
I was guided to tap into the energy of the Christ to see how he feels about Divine Surrender. The immediate response I received was that of Divine Power. How interesting. By being in Divine Surrender, the Christ was feeling his complete Divine Power. Ginger Withee, another friend of mine shared with me that when she tried the same experiment, she felt expansion, freedom, and deep connectedness. Comparing notes, Ginger and I realized that Divine Surrender is the exact opposite of what human surrender feels like. It is through Divine Surrender – surrendering to the Divine Will within ourselves, that we have the power and the freedom to be and experience what is in the highest good of all. Anything less than this and we are limiting ourselves.
How does this apply to my 11-week old lab, Ruby Sunshine? Obviously, Ruby is very young and we are just starting to train her. Pat and I are trying to be as conscious as possible to not expect her to be more evolved than she is! Having said that, we live on a state highway that has a 50 mile an hour speed limit at our door. We can no longer allow Ruby to be outside of our backyard without a leash. She is too fast for us, already! Further into her training for voice recall, this may change. But, for now, the leash needs to be on for her protection and security.
As you can imagine, at first, Ruby viewed her leash as trying to control her or to confine her. That is how we humans view surrender and even guidance, sometimes. We have been working with Ruby, physically and energetically, to see if she will reframe the way she views the leash from being controlling to being her freedom. Just like the Christ showed me, Divine Surrender to Divine Will, (aka being willing to walk on her leash) will allow Ruby to go anywhere, not just stay in the backyard, and be safe and secure while she is on the leash. Her universe will no longer be limited to her backyard. Her universe will include walks, hikes, new experiences, and new smells, all because she is willing to surrender to her leash.
The other day, Ruby was still fighting the leash on what I assume is personal conviction! Therefore, Pat and I had her in the backyard. However, she could see us in the garden which is not in the backyard. She kept running to the fence and looking like she wanted to join us in the garden. Deciding to give it a try, I put her on the leash and without much resistance, she was willing to be out of the backyard. Please bear in mind that the walk we went on was not a classic “at heel” walk at all! It was definitely all about how far she could run to the next smell. She did great! I believe this smart little creature is starting to realize that the leash is the key to her freedom.
What do we need to do to realize that surrendering to our own God-self, our own inner wisdom, and guidance, will lead to our freedom and our true power?
by Lori | Mar 25, 2016 | Blog
It is puppy time! My husband, Pat, and I welcomed Ruby Sunshine into our home on March 13. She is a Labrador puppy. Wow, the learning curve for me has been steep! As I have mentioned before, I have not had the experience of babies or pets in my adult life. I was quite content having my own time and own routines, or no routines. However, Pat’s and my collective guidance was that it was time for us to add this bundle of joy to our home. Ruby is joyful, fun and cute. I believe she will be a wonderful companion for us. She is however, a real live being with needs, fears and her own personality. She has her own will and her own teeth!
As I mentioned in last month’s blog entry, I knew I would need to stop judging myself that I would mess up Ruby’s life. Well, I guess I had not totally crossed that off my to-do list when we picked her up at the breeder. I am grateful that Pat has had experience with pets as the first couple of days found me second guessing everything I was doing, or feeling bad about it, even when I was doing what the books on puppy behavior recommend.
At a particularly low point for me, Pat told me that the only way we could truly mess Ruby up would be to abuse her, which is not in our nature. I was meditating on the topic a day or so later trying to clear through my reluctance to follow the recommendations for Ruby. I heard from my own guidance that Pat was right, but in addition, the other way to mess up Ruby would be to not train her. That was my “ah-ha” moment.
Instead of looking at the actions to modify behavior as “discipline,” I was be guided to look at the actions as training. For me, this is a very important distinction. If I look at what I am doing and what all the books say to do as training for Ruby, then it is no different from how I would look at raising a child to eat with a fork or learn the alphabet. What a disservice it would be to allow a child to be lawless and uneducated. That would ruin the child’s life. The same would be for not training Ruby to be a well behaved Labrador.
I also heard from my guidance and these behavior books that I needed to not anthropomorphize animals. I need to honor them for who they are but remember that they are part of Source and not a victim to the whims of a feckless deity who made them be animals. Being an animal is just another great experience here on earth. Ruby is a pack animal and needs to be trained and loved the way a pack animal needs to be handled. Treating her as a human is not fair to the essence of who she is. Treating her as a human is not fair to who she truly is. Thus, training is on the agenda!
Fortunately, I can couple the physical training with the energy work and resonances which are part of my service to my clients and to humanity, as well. I am seeking guidance as to how to balance Ruby’s needs individually with the needs of the family unit, as well. I continue to work with the feeling states of Harmony, Cooperation, Unity and Oneness for Ruby, Pat and me. This is how Pat and I will attempt to raise a conscious puppy.
Where in your life would you benefit from looking at a situation as needing training v. discipline? We might look at our exercise regime and think we need more discipline. Or we might look at our meditation practice and think we need more discipline. But, doesn’t the idea of more discipline sound daunting? Sometimes the idea of more discipline makes me think I am being punished. What if I changed the way I look at the situation from discipline and punishment to training and the rewards of that training? The rewards of more exercise might be that I feel better and I am able to fend off colds and viruses more effectively. The rewards of increased meditation time might be that I feel more at peace even in the midst of the chaos that I see all around me.
The energy of training allows me to see the benefit of the end state. The energy of discipline sometimes feels like it is the avoidance of unwanted characteristics. It is the difference of looking at something as the carrot vs. the stick. Let’s say that thirty more minutes of meditation is the goal. If I look at the thirty minutes as training to make myself better, I will go into the training with a positive attitude and a higher energy frequency. If I look at the thirty minutes as discipline, it is possible I will have a lower energy frequency and resent the time. The time will still be spent, but the intention and the attitude of one will give much better results than the other.
Ask yourself to evaluate in your life where you would benefit from looking at the energy of more training vs. the energy of more discipline. Allow yourself to focus on the end state and the benefits of not believing yourself to be a victim of the circumstances around you. Instead, view yourself as training yourself to be the best version of yourself you can be. Let the training begin!
by Lori | Feb 29, 2016 | Blog
My husband and I are excited to welcome an 8 week old yellow Labrador into our home in two weeks. We have decided to call her Ruby Sunshine in deference to her yellow lab mom and her red lab dad.
As a woman without biological children and no pets in her adult life besides some Koi fish, which are pretty low maintenance, this is going to be a big transition for me. I know it is going to be a happy transition, but big changes are coming, nonetheless. I can already see some of the issues / mirrors that the situation is presenting to me that I haven’t felt the need to address prior to this welcomed addition. I have a feeling this will not be the last blog post where Miss Ruby is front and center.
The biggest mirror for me thus far in preparing for Ruby is the mirror of separation anxiety. I realize that there are more immediate physical / 3D concerns with a puppy than separation anxiety, which I have been lead to believe is more pronounced with older rescue dogs. However, this is the mirror I see, so it is the mirror I will investigate!
How will I manifest the intention that Ruby feels loved, safe and secure no matter whether she is with us, being boarded or being safely left at home? The first step I am being guided to take is to clear my own anxiety, nervousness and attachment. I need to be able to not judge myself that my actions are going to make a mess of Ruby’s life even when my actions are not quite as “Cesar Milan-ish” as I would like them to be. Fortunately, I have energetic tools at my disposal to send energy to Ruby to let her know of her safety and security, regardless. Sending Ruby energy is a recommended step to making the transition to a new home easier.
However, the ultimate mirror for me is how loved, safe and secure I feel in my own life, in my own skin. That is the true mirror for separation anxiety, the separation that I feel from Source, the ultimate divine energy. If I have the false belief that I am separate from Source, I will attract a dog who has the energy of fear of separation in her, as well. She will be my mirror. This is how the Spiritual Law of Like Attracts Like works. Thus, the best way for me to help Ruby to not feel separation is for me to not have the energy of separation in me. With everything in metaphysics, we must help ourselves before we can help others. As we have said before, the flight attendants tell you to put on your own mask first before helping others with their masks.
In the third dimensional illusion, I could look at a frightened dog as that the problem is hers alone. However, the illusion and the experiences we are having in the illusion are simply reflections of how we feel about ourselves. The more I feel oneness and security with Source, the more all my experiences and relationships will reflect that back to me.
Clearing my own separation anxiety will raise my frequency and because we are one with all and each other, that will raise the frequency of those around me, as well. This will bring more joy and peace to us all. As Gene Hill said, “Whoever said you can’t buy happiness forgot little puppies.” Welcome, Ruby Sunshine.
