July/August 2002
Feature Articles
Holistic Health Q & A
by Dr. George Forster
Of whiplash and prescription drugs.
What is... the Organic Movement?
by Robert Roman
Part one of a three-part article detailing
the author's personal experiences and the growth of the organic movement.
UnCommon Sense!
by David Findlay
The Middle East, terrorism, weapons
of mass destruction.
Articles on the theme "To Worry Or Not To Worry"
What, Me Worry?
by AnneMarie Dyer
A vacation leads to some spiritual
insights.
Worrier To Warrior
by Lisa Raphael
The difference between someone who
worries and a warrior, a person of courage and vigor.
The Righteous Worrier!
by Rev. D. Kaye Patrick
Does worry really mean loving and caring?
Or is worrying a waste of time and energy?
Let It Go!
by Tracy Woolrich
Easy to say, but how to do it?
Why Worry?
by Bob Murray PhD
The underlying cause of over-anxious
reactions and generalized worry - and the solution.
A Balancing Act
by Charles Larsen
Of over-reacting and under-reacting
and the attempt to find a middle ground.
Too Blessed To Be Stressed
by Rev. Pat Cross
The power to choose between a human
or a spiritual view of our problems.
Remember Scarlett O'Hara
by Dave Hunt
A life without worry? How to achieve
it?
Too Blessed To Be Stressed
Rev. Pat Cross
Take charge and remember to connect with that God power in, as and through you. The joy and power of the kind of day you will experience lies in this winning combination. It is worth more than a winning Lotto ticket!
When you stop assigning the joy and power of your day to an outside cause you are the master of all you survey.
We need to consciously remember who we are and be who we really are a child of God, created in this image and likeness, in whom God is well pleased. Too often we humans are inclined to throw away this beautiful life within us by the antics of our personality selves. This human practice creates worry and brings feelings of unhappiness, sadness, frustration and other negative, destructive vibrations. Worry is a destructive habit that has its origin in our conditioned human thinking. It is usually a pattern that begins in our childhood and often follows us into adulthood. It can rob us of precious moments in the present, stunts and paralyzes our growth as well as being a devastating waste of our energy. What we humans have in common seems to be a general fear of the unknown and/or f.e.a.r. (false evidence appearing real). Enough I say!
One of God's many gifts is the power of choice. There is always another way to perceive any situation and the solution is found in our spiritual nature: recognizing, connecting with, and accepting that the power to change any perception and/or misperception is within each of us and the time to do it is NOW. To quote Louise Hay, "This day I become my own cheerleader and set in motion the desire to live a more abundantly rich and satisfying life."
Once we acknowledge we are one with the ONE that God is a living presence within each of us we can claim "I am the valedictorian from my college of SELF Esteem."
Life is more than the aggregate of what we do. It is about tasting more of who we are and extending this into the quality of our life. In this way we are continually made new again and again.
Take time to look at past behaviors, wants, needs, and habits and open our personal boundaries for divine refreshment.
A perfect demonstration of this principle which I am personally experiencing today is dealing with a frustrating situation with my computer. Being a novice with this technology, I am inclined to give it much too much power on occasions when it does not perform as I expect it to. And this is one of those occasions. I wanted to check my e-mail. Well, I pulled up the e-mails in my in-box okay but couldn't read them. Message on the screen read "too heavy an access to internet right now -try later." I had allotted a specific time for computer activities this Saturday around other activities planned for the weekend. I wanted what I wanted and I wanted it right now! WOW! That is the story of life as it was and had been for many years for me. At last, fortunately for me that awesome gem "power of choice" chose to sneak into my awareness. So, on this Saturday I didn't allow frustration to get the best of me. Today I am writing this article and enjoying the creative opportunity of sharing this example with you. And tomorrow I will once again bring life to the computer God willing. A small example of how this principle works, I admit. However, this principle may be applied in any given situation. A demonstration that the power to change a point of view or state of mind is always within us.
The serenity prayer is a workable solution to any situation: "God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." Wisdom in this case relates to taking affirmative action when appropriate rather than approaching the situation reactively and getting stuck in a dilemma of frustration, fear and/or worry.
Our heart is a garden of thought and, since we are all citizens of the environment of our own thoughts, it behooves us to consciously choose thoughts of love, peace, harmony, joy, wellness, flexibility and choice. That which we can not change is best handled by prayer, meditation, acceptance, attitude change, and turning it over to a higher power and the Infinite Knower. God gave us life to enjoy. We were given the power of choice how we use it to enjoy life is entirely up to us. As Willard Gaylin said, "Life is to be enjoyed, not simply endured. Pleasure and goodness and joy support the pursuit of survival." And to quote Anthony J. D'Angelo: "If life doesn't offer a game worth playing, then invent a new one." "To love what you do and feel that it matters how could anything be more fun?" - Katharine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post.
Let's each replace the human need to worry with the enjoyment and fun of life and living. As Teilhard de Chardin, a French mystic, expressed it: "Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God." What greater gift could any of us have than to know, feel and experience the presence of God in our everyday life?
That is the ultimate choice! We are all breathing entities, so let each one of us choose today to consciously use our energy to breathe in the love, peace, harmony and confidence of God and breathe out all fear, doubt, uncertainty, worry, frustration and other negative concepts of human origin. God and God's goodness is all there is. To know it, accept it and be it is ours to behold, manifest and express. As I have heard it said, "I am too blessed to be stressed."
Rev. Pat Cross is a Science of Mind minister, lecturer,
author of Spiritual Awakenings, counselor, teacher and workshop facilitator.
Holiday, FL (727) 934-6730. rev-Pat_cross@msn.com
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