Tag Archive | God

Effortless Generosity

Feb17

In today’s blog, we explore faith and good works and the effortless nature of giving when we know and trust in God.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

Can that faith save him?

If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them,

“Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?

So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

James 2: 14-16

The Fear that Keeps us from Giving

In my book, Authentic Freedom – Claiming a Life of Contentment and Joy, I address the very topic explored in James’ epistle above.  I do not directly relate giving to faith, but in essence that is what we are talking about.  We begin by exploring the first of the seven spiritual fears, there is not enough and how this fear causes us to gather to ourselves more than what we need through the compulsion of gluttony and how we fail to share our resources with others because of this fear.  As we allow this fear to be healed within us, we find that we naturally and effortlessly share our resources with others through the virtue of generosity.  At the end of the day, it is FAITH that allows us to be healed of this wound so that we can freely and generously share what we have with those who have not.  Generosity is our faith in action – and demonstrates how much we really believe in the truth of an abundant God.  When we know that our needs are being abundantly met, then we are free to give to others.  But here is the really cool thing….when we have faith and trust in God, we give to others even when it doesn’t seem as if we have enough to give….in other words, we don’t just give from our surplus, we give from what we might need to survive.  This is true generosity.

Fake it til you Make it

Faith,  however, is not always an easy thing to accomplish.  Whether it is due to our upbringing, our education or religious indoctrinization or just our personal temperment, sometimes we just simply struggle to BELIEVE.  When we don’t believe, generous giving might be a challenge.  But, there is something really magical that happens when we are generous with our resources – regardless of our faith.  There is a universal law of nature that when we give, we get back 100 fold.  I know, it is a leap of faith to believe in this “law” but sometimes faking it (the belief part) and giving anyway has the miraculous effect of establishing within us the foundations of faith.  We might call this, “Fake it til you make it.”  In other words…..give to others when you see they are in need and see what happens in your own life.  Take that $10.00 bill out of your pocket and give it to the homeless guy…just because….and regardless of whether he really needs it or not and whether or not he might use it to buy alcohol or drugs.  Just give it…without condition, without expectation, without judgment……and see what happens.  See if you don’t find something you have needed suddenly showing up in an amazing, wonderful and unexpected way.  Give and see what comes back to you….and let this be the seeds of faith.

The Generosity Challenge

There are  two fabulous resources I have found to help us in this journey toward being an effortlessly generous human beings.  The first, of course, is my book, Authentic Freedom.  :)   The second is a project called The 29 Day Giving Challenge.   This project is based on the founder’s (Cami Walker) experience of giving and how it freed her from the symptoms of an MS flareup.   Check out her website for details on the project and to get involved if you feel so called.

How Authentic Freedom Ministries is meeting this challenge

In the spirit of faith and generosity, I am pleased to share with you that Authentic Freedom Ministries is putting its resources (not just money), where its mouth is.  What good is all the work we do at Authentic Freedom Ministries if we are not giving back?  Believing in the abundance of God and wanting to freely and generously share our resources, we have recently entered into a community partnership arrangement with one of the local high schools.  Thanks to this partnership, we will be one source of support for the needs of the student and teaching populations of Oshkosh North High School.  With 47% of the student population qualifying for free and reduced lunches and with the continually decreasing resources available to teachers, Oshkosh North High School is in a state of great need.  We will be providing financial, material, networking as well as volunteer support as needed and as we are able.  We hope that this partnership becomes a model and a source of inspiration for other local businesses to follow.

How are you being called to share your gifts and resources in service to humankind?

Where does the fear there is not enough prevent you from giving?

How are you being invited to fake it til you make it?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Let’s Talk About Love

Feb14

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!  Today is the day when our thoughts turn to love.  Let’s talk about love, shall we?

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

As much as all the hopeless romantics out there (me included) want to believe it, there is no handsome prince or knight in shining armour “out there” who is going to make us happy, content, complete.  Jerry MacGuire is a lie and everytime I see the clip with Renee Zellweger chanting, “You complete me,” I want to reach out and slap her upside the head.  All these fairytale ideas of love do for us (men and women included), is impose pressure on our would-be suitors to be perfect, and to fill the bottomless pit of need that most of us carry around for most of our life’s journeys.  Because there is no person on the planet that is perfect or who can fill that emptiness inside, all we get is the on-going cycle of disappointment and resentment that eventually leads to the death of our relationships.  We are all the victims and the losers in this culture of co-dependency that we have so enthusiastically cultivated.

Understanding Love

Part of our culture’s problem with love is that we have somehow come to believe that love is a commodity.  We believe that love is something we can “give” to another and something we can “get” from another.  We have been taught that love is something we have to earn (because of our inherent unworthiness) and that there is a constant threat that love will be taken away.  And then we did something really unfortunate, and that was to project our conditional understanding of love onto God.  Now God’s love has to be earned and God’s love can be taken away….and it most likely will be because we are inherently bad because of that little party in the Garden with the serpent, the naked man and woman and that darn piece of fruit.

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?

As I see it, there is one cause and one remedy to our messed up understanding of love.  The cause is that place inside of us that says we aren’t worthy of love.  More directly, it is that place inside of us where we have forgotten that LOVE is our original nature…LOVE is who and what we are….is does not have to be earned, neither can it be taken away….it just is.  When we remember that LOVE is who we are, then we are happy, content, whole and complete within ourselves and we stop looking for that magic someone who will make us feel “all better.”  The question, however, is how do we remember that LOVE is who and what we are?  For those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition, that journey sometimes begins by healing our images of God.  We have to undo the religious dogma that tells us that we have been banished from the Garden and that our life journey is now about earning back God’s fickle love.  We have to rediscover the God of Psalm 139 and the God of the story of the Prodigal Son – a God that loves us without condition….that welcomes us home with open arms, that accepts our unripeness and loves us for who we are.  As we come to know the love of God more fully, we can then begin the process of rediscovering the Love that we are that can only be found within.  And that Love, is found in sound spiritual practice – meditation, creative endeavors, body prayer, contemplation, reading and reflecting on scripture, mantra, chant, works of service and love.  As we cultivate a sound spiritual practice, we begin to connect with and rediscover the Love that we are ….the Love that lies deep within us in our hearts.  When we discover and cultivate this connection to the Love that dwells within…..then we KNOW the love that we are and we live that love freely and fully within the world.

How Love Transforms our Relationships

Now….here is where the magic really happens.  When we take the time to REMEMBER the LOVE that we Are….it changes how we approach our human call to partnership and intimacy.  Instead of looking outside of us for the person who will “complete” us, we draw to ourselves the person that ALSO remembers the love that they are.  Now we have two complete, content, happy individuals, who choose to come together to be the love that they are for one another and for the world.  We aren’t looking for that person to fill us.  Instead, we stand content side by side being the love that we are and being loving toward eachother because the love that we are flows naturally out of us.  No longer are we loving for the sake of manipulation….for approval or to get something back.  We love because it is who we are and all we can do.

Happy Valentine’s Day

So, this is my Valentine’s wish for all of us:

  • That we gift ourselves with the time and the tools to REMEMBER the LOVE that we are.
  • That we joyfully live that love in the world
  • And for those who are so-called, that they discover a healthy partnership rooted in the mutual love, honoring and respect that arises out of two individuals who have Remembered the Love that They Are…..

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

What Churches Refuse to Give us, Why and Where we Might Find it

Feb9

Today’s blog explores the topic of spiritual hunger and the tools that help to satisfy that hunger and why many, if not most, churches fail to give us what we really need.

Our Deepest Longing

In my nearly twenty years of ministry work, I have identified one desire that is common among every single person to whom I have ministered and I suspect is common among every single human being that walks this planet.  This desire is to KNOW they are LOVED.  No matter how confident we might seem to be, or successful, or popular or at peace…there is still a very deep longing to know that we are loved and that we are loved exactly for who and what we are….infinitely and without condition.  This longing to be loved is what drives us to seek fulfillment of this love in our life, our work, our relationships and our life experiences.  We begin by seeking for this love outside of us, but what I have discovered is that we can only find the fulfillment of that desire to be loved when we come to know the Love that we are within ourselves.

The Cause of the Longing for Love

While there are a bazillion books and self-help gurus who profess to know how to help us cultivate self-love, the truth is that the cause for this longing to know love is spiritual.  While books and counseling and inspirational seminars may help us heal some of the outside messages that told us we are not loved and may help us unlearn some of the negative self-talk we have developed as a result of these outside messages, the only place to realize the fulfillment of this longing for love is deep within ourselves in the connection with that which some might call “God.” Here’s where it gets messy.  “God” has become a dangerous word, polluted by religious institutions who out of their own unhealed wounds around love, have made God out to be this gastly beast who is judgmental, vengeful, fickle and whose love has to be earned and can be taken away.  What these institutions have forgotten is that God is the very nature of Love itself and that we are made out of that Love.  Because Love is our very nature and because we are the very expression of God as Love, love does not have to be earned, neither can it be taken away.  Love simply is…..and we are driven by a longing within to remember this truth.  Unfortunately there is no magic pill to remembering this love and there is no predictable timeframe.  The recollection of this love happens in a mysterious and magical way and is nothing short of Grace.   There are, however, things we can do to help facilitate this process and allow us to open to Grace….and that is called Spiritual Formation.

What the churches won’t give us

I am hopeful that there are churches out there who are exceptions to this rule.  But, by and large, Spiritual Formation – the tools for helping us remember the love that we are, is the thing that most churches refuse to give us.  Spiritual Formation is defined by tools that empower us to answer these three questions:

  • Who am I?
  • Whose am I?
  • What are my gifts and how am I being called to share them in the world

In a nutshell, sound spiritual formation empowers us to remember the love that we are and to find fulfilling ways to share that love in the world for the benefit of humankind.  You would think that churches would be enthusiastically sharing these tools with us, right?  Wrong.  And here is why:

  • Sound Spiritual Formation empowers us to remember that God is love.  Period.  If God is Love, then where is there room for dogma and doctrine that tells us what we need to do to earn our way into God’s love?  If God is Love, what happened in the Garden with the snake, the apple and the sinful couple?  If God is Love…then what is sin?  Got the picture?
  • Sound Spiritual Formation invites us to seek, explore, discover and challenge.  How many churches are open and supportive of their people seeking, exploring……challenging?
  • Sound Spiritual Formation invites us to KNOW the God within our heart…..and in coming to know God, we learn that there is only one Absolute truth and all other “truths” (especially religious truths) are up for discussion.

It’s getting pretty dangerous, wouldn’t you say?  So you can see why many churches are reluctant to share these tools with the uppity lay people in the pew.  Not to mention, MOST churches are not even aware of these tools because sometime during the Reformation (1500 something or other), these tools were gathered up and locked away in Catholic Monasteries where only monks and nuns had access to them.  Only recently have these tools become more readily available and accessible….but sadly, few of these resources have found their way into the hands of “the faithful.”

The Agape’ Project

Here is where I get involved.   In my ministry training, I had the great fortune of learning these tools and for the past almost twenty years, have made these tools part of my daily practice and shared them in my public ministry.  Now it is time for these tools to be available to EVERYONE!  These are the tools that I have already shared in both of my books, Authentic Freedom and Christouch.  And now, I share these tools through a little venture I call The Agape’ Project.  (agape’ is the Greek word that reflects our understanding of God as Love….infinite, unconditional and without regard to merit).  The Agape’ Project makes these tools available through a weekly newsletter that will include scripture readings as well as tools for sound spiritual formation.  This morning, I launched the pilot release of this product to a dozen brave souls who are willing to make a commitment to Remembering the Love that They Are through adherence to sound spiritual practice.  If you are interested in learning more about this project, click HERE.  The goal of the Agape’ Project is to empower people through tools of sound spiritual formation to Remember the Love that They Are and in doing so, to help make the world a better place!

Do you long to remember Love as your original nature?

Do you long to remember your connection to the deepest Source of that Love?

How are you being invited to seek, explore, discover, challenge?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Magic, Miracles and the Truth of Abundance

Feb8

Today’s blog explores the truth of an abundant Universe and the magic and miracles that happen when we believe this to be true.

The First Spiritual Fear

In my book, Authentic Freedom – Claiming a Life of Contentment and Joy, I reveal the Seven Spiritual Fears that prevent us from living a life of contentment and joy.  The first fear that I reveal is the fear that there is not enough. This fear arises out of our survival needs for food, clothing and shelter, but becomes distorted and irrational, causing us to constantly live in a state of anxiety over money, food, clothing, time, material possessions, money, money, money.  The truth that is the remedy to this fear and also revealed in my book is that the Divine meets all of our needs in abundance.  For most of us, it is a significant leap of faith to even consider the possibility that there is a Divine Source, let alone one who cares enough about us to make sure our needs are being met.  Then when faced with the reality of unemployment, a declining economy, world hunger and poverty, we really doubt this truth.  What we learn, however, is at the highest and deepest levels, this truth ultimately has nothing to do with our material world and has everything to do with our inner terrain.  Our original nature is peaceful and content and that inner state of peacefulness is independent of our external life circumstances.  In other words, even if we are dying of starvation and exposure in a Nazi prison camp, we can still know peace.  A tough pill to swallow to be sure, but this is the peace that God invites us into, invites us to remember and cultivate.  And, it is this deep well of inner peace that will give us comfort no matter what life throws at us.

Practicing What I Preach

Two years ago when it became obvious that divorce was inevitable, one of my teachers prophetically stated, “Well, now you will have an opportunity to practice what you preach.  You will be living the words written in your book.”  As the past 24 months unfolded, I can tell you there were many times I wish I had never written this dang book as I found myself choking on my own words.  Every fear that I teach about in Authentic Freedom came to bite me in the butt and I had to return again and again and again to what I had written.  The fear there is not enough was most certainly the most frequent visitor….and I still struggle with that fear from time to time and sometimes on a daily basis.  I guess the adage is true that we teach what we need to learn!

Proof in the Pudding

I do have to say, however, that everything I wrote in my book proved to be true.  In the face of all of my fears, through adherence to the principles of Authentic Freedom and engagement of the spiritual practices outlined in my book, I have found abundance, my own unique giftedness, empowerment, love, the freedom to generously share my gifts, insight and direction and most importantly the peace of remembering my Oneness with God and with all the Universe.  Specific to the fear there is not enough, the past week has been a glorious reminder of how truly abundant our God is and how our needs are abundantly met when we have faith and believe.  I want to share with you a few examples:

  • When I began this journey 24 months ago, a vision of a house appeared in my prayers – the house that would meet all the needs of myself and my children and my fledgling business.  I found what I thought was “the house” and lost it in a bidding war.  Later, I had a dream of a friend “giving” me a house.  This served as a reminder that the house that was in our highest good would come in some magical and miraculous way.  A month or so later, this is exactly what happened.  My children and I now live in a magical, amazing home that also houses my business and I am head over heels in love with this house!
  • When struggling with the fear there is not enough  last week, I brought it to prayer and in my prayer, I saw a vision of two fish and five loaves of bread.  Duh…..loaves and fishes.  God was giving me a message.  I was smart enough to hear the message and believe it.  I then paid my bills and found I had more than enough money to cover the bills and may have even discovered a $300 error, in my favor, in my bank account.  (still waiting for verification of that error)
  • I have a suggested fee that is in the reach of many of my clients, but out of the reach for some.  My commitment to God has been to offer my gifts without regard to people’s ability (or lack thereof) to pay.  As a result, I have worked out discounts, trades and barters with several clients.  One of my standing “jokes” around my trade and bartering is “Now I just need to find a farmer who will give me food in exchange for Reiki.”  Yesterday it showed up in an even bigger package than what I had asked for.  One client brought produce from her own garden and venison that her husband had hunted.  Another client brought a bag of organic groceries from my favorite Co-op in Madison.  When it rains it pours!
  • In an effort to meet my client goal for the week, I posted a message on Facebook, inviting past and current clients and friends to send people my way.  That very day, I got three new clients….completely unrelated to the Facebook request.

So, I guess the moral of the story is that God really does meet our needs when we have faith and believe.  And in those moments when I find I am unable to believe or trust in an abundant God, this is the prayer that gives me comfort:

Lord, Help me in my unbelief.

Because I have also found that all the praying in the world sometimes doesn’t calm our fears….and in those moments I know that only God can help me to believe.

Where do you struggle with the fear “there is not enough?”

What tools do you have for moving through that fear into belief in abundance?

Where do you turn to God for help when you are afraid?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

What if God isn’t?

Feb6

Today’s post explores the unexplorable, the unanswerable, the unponderable….in the mind of some people – the unforgivable. What if God isn’t?

Facebook Dangers :)

The image above was found floating around Facebook this weekend.  I read it and LOVED it! I immediately shared it on my wall, thereby inviting a firestorm of comments.  None of the comments were negative, in fact, most were either a “like” or something like, “YAY.”  One comment, however, struck me right between the eyes.  The comment was, What if god isn’t?  HMMMMM   I had never even considered that possibility.  This comment made me think, it made me reflect and  it made me sad.

The Unanswerable Question

Of course, there is NO answer to that question, “What if god isn’t” because, there is also no answer to the question,  “What if God is?”  At the end of the day, we do not know, we have no proof, we have no evidence.  And, unfortunately, unless God steps out of “the sky” and plants his or her feet on this earth (and THAT is a topic for a whole other blog!), or is spotted playing Skeeball at Coney Island (let me know if you get that reference :) ), or unless we die and go to “heaven” and meet God face-to-face….we will never know.   So until any of those events transpire, we have nothing to go on but FAITH in a God that may or may not exist.  I for one, choose faith.

Being a Fool for God

So, to the enlightened, the educated, the scholarly, I may appear the fool because I CHOOSE to believe in a benevolent God.  I choose to believe that there is a Higher Power, a Creative Source that is beyond me, that made me, that can be a source of guidance, support, nourishment, mercy, healing, love, insight, understanding, wisdom and empowerment.  I choose this belief because I have found that when I believe in God, my life is better.  And when it is not, I know that there is a loving God carrying me through the struggles, the pain, the loneliness, the loss, the betrayal and the tragedies…and when I surrender to this God, believe in this God, the doors open where I before thought they were closed, a light shines in the darkness and I am able to find HOPE where perhaps there had only been despair.  Believing in God keeps me going through the ups and downs of the human condition and allows me to seek beauty in ugliness, peace in the face of fear, clarity in the midst of confusion and strength in times of struggle.  And when I think about this really hard, I guess it doesn’t really matter if there is a God or not because it might just be the belief that gets us through and it might just be belief that helps us find meaning in a life that would otherwise seem meaningless.  But even if God doesn’t exist, and this is all there is, I still choose to BELIEVE because after what I have experienced, why would I choose otherwise?  And if I chose to not believe in God, then it would clearly be a matter of “Life sucks and then you die,” and that would just be sad.  So instead of sadness or despair, I choose God, and if that makes me the fool…..then so be it!

And here are a few God songs ….just for fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USR3bX_PtU4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Qpp1QJpxc

How has belief in a benevolent God helped you in your life?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Can I Get an AMEN!?

Jan29

Today’s blog explores the much used, abused and in truth, neglected word, “AMEN.”  What do we mean when we say this and what can it really mean? 

Exposing my Geekdom

I have a confession to make.  I am a geek!  I pretty much meet all of the qualifications for certifiable “Geekdom.”  And maybe this isn’t a surprise, but  one thing I bet you didn’t know about my Geekdom is my complete fascination with ancient and dead languages – in particular, Sanskrit, Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin.  I have said if I had all the money and time in the world, I would go back to school and study these languages.  But here’s the real Geek confession….it is not the languages per se that fascinates me, it is the letters, the root sounds and their magical, mystical, healing, transformative powers.  Because in case you didn’t know this…..these languages ARE MAGIC!  And that goes back to my first true fantasy and first touch of geekdom - to be able to wiggle my nose, ala Samantha Stevens,  and poof make things happen.  And in case you didn’t know this….Samantha Stevens is QUEEN of the geeks!

Magical Hebrew Letters

So my dream to be able to study ancient and dead languages has begun taking root.  On a recent Amazon.com search, I found this fabulous book, The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet by Rabbi Michael L. Munk.  In this book, he takes each letter of the Aleph-Beis (Hebrew Alphabet) and explores the hidden, mystical, magical, spiritual significance of each letter and their connection to Jewish deed and thought.  It is a beautiful book and it is quenching my thirst for a deeper comprehension of ancient languages and their spiritual roots.

Can I Get an Amen?

Now….to the point of today’s blog!  Rabbi Munk shares his thoughts on a tiny little word that is common among the prayers of both the Hebrew and Christian traditions, and that word is AMEN.  Having been raised Catholic, I was quite familiar with this little word – it acted as a period at the end of every uttered prayer.  Whether a rote, memorized prayer like the Lord’s Prayer or the Hail Mary, sung at the end of the Doxology, or at the end of the intercessory prayers, Amen was the word that marked the end of our prayer intentions.  I recall being told in religious ed that “Amen” meant something like, “So be it.”  Rabbi Munk reveals a deeper, more expansive understanding of the word AMEN that has totally altered the way I will use this word in the future:

The word Amen, stems from faith or belief.  When responding, ”Amen,” we must bear in mind that we are acknowledging our belief in the manifestation of God described in the blessing we have just heard.”

(The Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet pg 152)

When we say, “Amen” we are saying that we BELIEVE that God is doing what the words say God is doing!  We are saying that we BELIEVE that God is answering and taking action on our prayers.   We are saying that we BELIEVE the words we are saying or the words that God is saying to us.  Amen = I BELIEVE.  To me, this is HUGE!  It is one thing to put a period or an exclamation at the end of a blessing or a prayer, but to say, “Yep, I believe this,” is not just HUGE…it is EARTH SHATTERING!   Now…let me give you some examples.

God’s Words to Me

Throughout the past year and a half of blogging, I have shared with you several mantras and words of comfort that God has given me in my prayer and in my yoga practice.  Here are some of those words:

  • You are my beloved daughter and with you I am well pleased
  • You are precious and glorious in my eyes and I love you
  • I know well the plans I have for you, plans for prosperity and not for woe
  • Say yes to what God gives you
  • You are a vessel through which love is known in this place
  • You are worthy of love and belonging
  • The word is CHOOSE
  • Grow up
  • You know who you are, you know what you want
  • Be open to receive all the love the universe wants to give you 

I have taken these words to heart…..and they have been a profound source of comfort and help when I needed them.  But upon reading Rabbi Munk’s words, these words take on a whole new meaning.  To all of the above……I now add a big, huge AMEN!  In other words, I don’t just hear these words, I am being invited to BELIEVE them……to believe in prosperity, in love, in abundance, in openness, to belonging, to knowing, to receiving, etc. etc. etc. and to know that God is actually DOING what all of these words of comfort and support suggest.   So to prosperity…I say AMEN!  To knowing all my needs are abundantly met….I say AMEN!  To all the love of the universe, I say Amen…..You get the idea! And indulging my geek fantasies, when I say AMEN, I imagine God as Samantha Stevens, wiggling her nose and making it so!  Now it is your turn:

To what are you being invited to say AMEN?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

You Are Loved

Jan23

In today’s blog I share with you the words that came to me during my yoga practice yesterday morning.  I believe these are words for all of us!

Worthiness and Love

Of late, I have been reflecting on worthiness – specifically worthiness of being loved.  This love is of course about our intimate human relationships, AND I know at the deepest core of my being, that this worthiness is ultimately about Divine Love and our ability to believe we are loved unconditionally, infinitely and beyond measure.  As in worthiness of human love, we might hear that God loves us, but do we actually believe it?  Most of the time and for most human beings, I would say the answer is “NO.”  And what I have learned is that until we not only hear this love, but believe in it….with our whole hearts and souls, we are without peace, joy, compassion, mercy and fulfillment.  In other words, it is in REMEMBERING the LOVE that WE ARE…..that we find peace, contentment and joy.

God Speaks

So I showed up for yoga class yesterday morning with these thoughts wrapped around my aura.  Before beginning class, our instructor usually invites us to state within ourselves an intention for our practice.  I didn’t have a specific intention for the morning, so I simply sat in silence, waiting.  Then, clear as a bell, I hear God speak.  And this is what God said to me, “You are my beloved daughter, and with you I am well pleased.”  Yeah, Yeah….I know this is scriptural….and that it comes from the scriptural narratives about Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan by John.  And…..I also believe these are not only God’s words for Jesus….but are God’s words for us as well.  And…..hearing these words yesterday made me wonder, “Is this the truth Jesus had to hear, know, embrace and embody before he could embark upon his own healing ministry?”  I think perhaps it is!  So I used these words as a mantra during my yoga practice and allowed myself to not only hear these words, but begin to believe them.   And in being present to these words, I felt peaceful, joyful, grounded and secure.

My Prayer for You

So, here is my prayer/invitation for you today – that you take these words, You Are my Beloved Daughter/Son, and with You I am Well Pleased – imagine that God is saying these words directly to and about you……and believe that God is addressing you in this way.  Then, let your heart be open to hearing, believing, embracing and embodying this truth…..BECAUSE…….YOU ARE LOVE…..YOU ARE LOVED…..YOU ARE WORTHY….And the quicker you know this….the quicker you will know peace, contentment, fulfillment and joy!

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Writing as a Spiritual Practice

Jan18

Today’s blog explores writing as a spiritual practice.  And, offers resources in support of this practice. 

My Journey with Writing

Writing has been part of my personal spiritual practice for nearly 20 years, if not longer.  I remember first being encouraged to write as part of my prayer in a high school theology class (I attended parochial schools).  My writing practice at that time consisted of writing my prayer requests to God and writing what might be construed as psalms – poems of praise and worship.  My writing practice took a back seat during my fun-filled college years and my early foray into corporate America.  Writing re-surfaced as a spiritual practice through one of the required classes of the Ministerial Formation program I attended through the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin.  The class, Integrative Spirituality, was taught by Sr. Marie Schwan and focused on Ignatian spirituality.  We learned various Christian spiritual practices including Imagination/Contemplation, Mantra Prayer, Lectio-Divina, and Centering Prayer.  We were encouraged to make writing part of our daily spiritual practice, and to keep a spiritual journal.  Keeping a journal later became a requirement of the program itself and a pre-requisite to graduation.  Not yet realizing I was born to be a writer, I was surprised to find that the writing part of the spiritual practice eventually became one of my most helpful and supportive tools.

The Gifts of a Writing Practice

What I discovered through spiritual writing and journalling, was that it was often through my pen that God would speak.  Somehow, writing allowed me to get out of my own head and simply allow a higher wisdom and source of creative expression to speak through me (I call that higher wisdom “God”).  Through writing I found answers to difficult questions, insights into higher laws, creative inspiration, spiritual comfort and healing, direction along life’s path, release of pain and woundedness and a place to write my deepest, darkest, most vulnerable feelings and thoughts….things I would be reluctant to share with anyone.  Today, I rarely enter into my spiritual practice without my journal by my side and pen ready.  Writing has become an integral part of my spiritual practice and has become the roadmap of my life.  As a professional Spiritual Director, I often invite my clients to add writing to their existing spiritual practice and for those that have said yes, they have experienced amazing results.

Starting a Spiritual Writing Practice

If you have not yet integrated writing into your spiritual practice, I highly recommend it.  And, there are several great resources out there for beginning that practice.  One of my favorite is Spiritual Journaling – Writing Your Way to Independence by writer and teacher, Julie Tallard Johnson.  In this book Julie provides tools for beginning a spiritual practice centered in writing, writing prompts and exercises and all the support you need along the way.  It is a terrific book for beginners as well as well-seasoned writers and I highly recommend it.  And……just so you know, the book has just been released in Kindle format and from January 22 – February 4, will be available for just 99 cents!!!!!   So, check out the book, get your copy today and START WRITING!

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

What god Are You Serving?

Jan17

Today’s blog is in the form of a music video from one of my favorites:  Trent Reznor in his incarnation - Nine Inch Nails.  Click on the link below, then reflect on the questions that follow:

Head Like a Hole:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao-Sahfy7Hg&ob=av2e

(Here’s a link to the lyrics in case you need help:  http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/nineinchnails/headlikeahole.html)

How much time and energy do you give to “god-money?”

What is the focus, center, pivot on which your life unfolds?  (money, acquisitions, status, power, love, joy, peace, fame, etc.?)

How are you being called to shift your attention from the external “gods” to the Source of love, peace and joy that resides within you?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Saying Yes To God

Jan8

http://www.ishalerner.com

Dear Readers,

I want to thank you for being a loving and supportive witness as I have moved through this past year of listening and attempting to discern God’s call for me in my life – specifically in this year of dramatic change (divorce, etc.).  Today is the day I step into what I can best discern as God’s invitation for me to step more fully into my call/role of “priest.”  I hesitate to even use that word because of the negative connotations this word brings up for many, and for fear of being caught up in my own compulsion of pride.  When I use the word “priest” here, what I really mean is VESSEL – specifically, a vessel through which other people are empowered to:

REMEMBER the Love that they Are

And I do this through the sharing of my own gifts and the tools that I have gathered along the way that help us to come to know ourselves more fully, to come to know God more fully and to identify, name, claim, cultivate and eventually share our own unique gifts in the world.

So, as the Authentic Freedom Ministry team launches our Sunday services, I thank you.  I thank you for listening, for holding space, for accompanying us on this journey….and I thank you for your thoughts and prayers of support.   And today, I have a special request – I ask that as we create a space of contempative worship, that you hold us in your prayers…..and more importantly, that you hold in prayer those who feel called to join us for contemplative worship this evening and in the days and weeks ahead.  For twenty years I have observed the dramatic transformation and healing that takes place in people when they allow themselves to be open to the contemplative journey, and I expect the same to take place in the minds and hearts of those who will find their way to our Sunday gatherings.  So I too, will hold them in prayer.

Blessings to you as we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany…..the day when three dudes from the East recognized the miraculous Presence of the Divine in a star, had the faith to follow that star to destinations unknown and who discovered the love of God in the heart of a child.

In love and light,

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com