Tag Archive | spiritual practice

Why Bother with a Spiritual Practice?

Mar8

Today’s blog explores the value of a personal, spiritual practice….and answers the great marketing question:  WIFM?  You will learn that you can’t afford NOT to cultivate a sound spiritual practice if you desire peace and joy in your life.   

Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, But stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.

Jeremiah 17: 5-9

WIFM?  What is in it for me if I embrace a spiritual practice?

The first reading from today’s scripture pretty much says it all.  I don’t think I have read anything that more accurately describes the contrast between a life without spiritual practice and a life that is firmly rooted in meditation, contemplation, creative endeavors….anything that is directed toward knowing God and knowing ourselves.  When we give time to God in meditation, contemplation and prayer, life takes on a quality of ease, peacefulness, contentment.  We are able to be present to the ebb and flow of the human condition – facing adversity, challenge, loss with a sense of surrender and peace.  We are also able to celebrate the gifts of the human condition with fulfillment and joy.  When we do not have our lives rooted in spiritual practice, life tosses us about like a plastic bag in the wind and life feels like a barren wasteland….stark, depressing, blech.

Fruits of Contemplation

In the Western Contemplative tradition, these benefits of sound spiritual practice are referred to as “the fruits of contemplation.”   Teresa Tillson speaks of these fruits in an article she penned for the St. Olaf college website:

Jesus taught no specific method, but did regularly withdraw to be alone with God. The fruits of prayer described by Paul the Apostle are love, joy peace, patience, generosity, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and purity. (Galatians 5:22-23). According to Thomas Keating, the fruits of centering prayer are freedom from self-centered motivation, action in service to others, a sense of interconnectedness with all creation, dis-identification with our self-image, healing of fear, conviction of our basic goodness, and capacity for union with God.

 The Way of Meditation and Contemplation by Teresa Tillson  http://www.stolaf.edu/people/huff/classes/religion/Essay.html

In short, spiritual practice is good for us.  It helps us to be happy and to find peace.  It fills us up, nourishes us, makes life palatable.  If it is so good for us, why don’t we do something about it?

All Good Things, Right!?

That is a really good question.  If spiritual practice is so dang good for us and centuries of teachers seem to know this, why don’t we do it?  The first answer is that maybe life hasn’t yet kicked our butt enough.  The second answer might be lack of motivation.  The third answer might be the illusion or false perception that ” I don’t have time.”  The fourth answer might be that you have never been given the tools or taught effective means of contemplation that SPEAK TO YOU.  Not everyone is called to silent meditation and the rosary doesn’t speak to everyone.  In the coming days and in support of the March 15th global launch of the Agape’ Project…..I hope to blast through some of the obstacles to spiritual practice, while providing you the tools and support you might need to either begin or further develop your existing practice.  Because more than anything in the world…..I hope for you to know the peace, joy and love that I have discovered through sound spiritual practice and to find those things for yourself.

If you do not have a daily spiritual practice……why not?

Where do you seek more peace, fulfillment, love and joy in your life?

How are you being called to deepen your existing spiritual practice if you have one?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Ash Wednesday – Returning

Feb22

Even now, says the Lord,

Return to me with your whole heart.

Joel 2:12-18

A Lenten Invitation

I love the scripture passage above from the prophet Joel.  This is the first line of the first reading proclaimed during the Ash Wednesday mass….ushering in the annual observance of Lent.  I’m not sure there are any better words to describe what Lent can be for us – returning to God with our whole hearts!

Our Forgetfulness

We are a forgetful people.  In our choice to experience the human condition, we temporarily forgot our original state in Oneness with God.  We forgot the peace, the love and the joy that define our Origin in God and as such, we live in a state of fear.  This fear which arises out of our false perception of separation from God is what creates the suffering that we experience in the human condition.  Out of this fear, we behave in ways that are unloving, unkind, covetous, jealous, wrathful and unjust…and we suffer the consequences of these actions (not because God is punishing us, but because that is just the way things are).  In this state of fear, we often believe, “Life sucks and then you die,” or we project these fears onto God falsely believing that we have to earn our way back to “heaven” and that there is some magical formula (certain prayers, rituals, sacraments, acts of service, pentitential acts) that will get us back home.  The good news is that there is really only one things we need to do…..and that is to REMEMBER!

Returning and Remembering

I know this is easier said than done, but in order to reclaim our original nature as loving, peaceful, joyful creatures, all we need to do is to REMEMBER.  And the quickest way I have found to remember the love, the joy and the peace that we are is to turn to God.  Now, I don’t mean the head bowed in penitence turning to God….I mean the heart wide-opened, arms spread wide, joyful acceptance of the loving magnificence of God.  And, there are many tools to help facilitate this turning…..prayer, devotion, worship, meditation, contemplation, love making, being in nature, mindfulness, acts of service, singing and chant, listening to music, participating in creative endeavors.  All of these activities, when directed toward our returning to God, help us to Remember.  When we REMEMBER God as love…..then we also REMEMBER ourselves as love and we have accomplished what Joel invites us to do - return to God with our whole heart.

What Are You Waiting For?

While we can get to this business of remembering and returning anytime we wish, Lent is a great excuse for giving extra attention to this endeavor.  So, if you are interested in experiencing deeper peace, greater love and more joy in your life…..what are you waiting for?  If you don’t already have a spiritual practice….start one (See the new Tab on this Website – “Meditation tips” for help on getting started.) and if you have one already….do it more.

What activities are you already doing that give you peace, help you experience love or joy?

How are you being invited to utilize these activities as a spiritual practice with the intention of remembering your original nature as love, peace and joy?

How are you being invited to begin or deepen your existing spiritual practice?

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

Team Agape’ Pilot Project

Jan23

Dear Readers,

I am gathering the names of those of you who may be interested in participating in a pilot project sponsored by Authentic Freedom Ministries.

The working title of the project is “Team Agape’”  “Agape’” (pronounced Ah-Gah-Pay) is the Greek word that represents the unconditional, infinite, overflowing love of God in which we not only participate but in which we are a part and which we are called to reflect in the world.  The goal of “Team Agape’” is to provide participants the tools through which they are empowered to seek, discover, cultivate and ultimately remember the full embodiment of this love.  Remembering this love provides us with the peace, contentment, joy, compassion and fulfillment we long for in this human journey.

As a participant in this project, you will receive:

- A weekly resource (via email in pdf format) that will include:

A scripture reading

A suggested meditation/contemplation/reflection activity

Background material on the scripture where appropriate

Tools for using these resources either in your own personal practice or as a resource to be used within a small group (of no more than 10)

Suggested songs, reflection questions, etc. which can be used in personal or group practice

Hints and Suggestions for helping to support a small group practice and discussion

- Email support as needed

Participation in the project will be subscription based and the starting fee is $5.00 per week and will be charged through PayPal.  Please note that participants in the pilot will be invited to offer feedback from time to time.  I will need your suggestions for improvement, etc. before going global – our ultimate goal!

The goal of the project is to provide individuals as well as small groups with materials for spiritual practice, reflection and discussion to assist them in the journey of “Remembering the Love that They Are,” free of the trappings of doctrine or dogma.  The goal is to help participants connect with the love of the Divine that lives within them and to hear the voice of Divine truth that lives within their own hearts.

If you are interested in participating in the pilot effort of Team Agape’, please email me at lauri@yourspiritualtruth.com.  Further instructions will be forthcoming. Also, please feel free to share this email invitation with your contact list in case there are others interested in participating.

Thank you.

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

Oshkosh, WI

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

lauri@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

Forgiveness Part Seventy Times Seven

Jan3

Today’s blog continues the discussion on the spiritual practice of Forgiveness.  Specifically, in order to experience the grace of forgiveness, we have to be willing to go into the pain.  No wonder Forgiveness is so dang hard!

The Road to Forgiveness

Roughly 6 weeks ago, thanks to the urging of several spiritual teachers, I embarked upon a journey with Forgiveness as its intention.  It started with one individual, then unfolded to include others who I had perceived to have hurt me in some way.  Interestingly, I have learned many unexpected lessons along the way.  I have been reminded that forgiveness is a process and that the actual moment of release is a moment of grace and comes unbidden and is given without regard to merit (in other words, it doesn’t come because I finally said enough “Hail Mary’s or proclaimed enough Mea Culpas).  I learned (actually, remembered) specific spiritual practices that I have found to be helpful along the way.  And I discovered the miracles that begin to unfold when we give our intention and attention to the process of forgiveness.  I also discovered that what is said of physical fitness seems also to be true in forgiveness:  No Pain, No Gain.

NO PAIN NO GAIN

Instictually, we are avoiders of pain.  If something hurts, we don’t do it again.  Avoidance of pain is an important attitude if we are to survive as a species.  Avoidance of pain, however, is not helpful if we are going to experience the depths of forgiveness.  If we really want to forgive others and ourselves and if we want to be open to forgiveness by others, we have to be willing to go into our pain.  This does not mean that we intentionally subject ourselves to someone else’s abuse, deceit or neglect, but it does mean that we have to be willing to recall those past moments of hurt, betrayal and loss and to actually go into those perceived negative feelings so that they can be transformed and released and so those constricted areas within our emotional bodies can be open to receiving love where the negative feelings used to be.  It goes something like this:

  • We hold an intention in our mind to forgive X person for some perceived hurt.
  • We allow ourselves to be open to remembering that hurt.
  • We allow ourselves to feel the emotions related to that hurt (anger, betrayal, hatred, thoughts of revenge)
  • Then we allow ourselves to feel SADNESS that is lying underneath these other emotions.
  • Then we grieve…..cry, moan, wail, feel the sadness.
  • Then, let it go.

As we allow ourselves to be present to the pain of the loss….the sadness of the hurt, and when we grieve this sadness, we are freed.  The part of the hurt that caused us sadness is released, and forgiveness and love can enter in to that space vacated by the loss.

Afraid of the Pain

It is ultimately the fear of these raw emotions….sadness, anger, depression, that stops our forgiveness process.  We push them aside, ignoring them, resisting them and in doing so, forgiveness is stalled and love is thwarted.  So if we really want to achieve forgiveness in our lives and thereby open more fully to love, we have to be courageous enough to be present to the pain.  And when we do so, our journey toward forgiveness and the fulfillment of love is accelerated and the greatest miracles begin to happen.  And who knows, we might even discover that we can love not only our enemies, but that we can love ourselves as well.

Where do you want to invite forgiveness into your life?

How does the fear of pain thwart your ability to be open to forgiveness?

What are the pains that are currently calling you to be present to them?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Love or Fear? The Choice is Yours

Nov4

Today’s blog is inspired by a series of events and experiences that I have observed and confirmed by the following article on the coming of “the Age of Aquarius”  http://www.3ho.org/ecommunity/2011/09/the-aquarian-shift-what-will-be-different-about-our-world-after-november-11-2011/.  Whether you believe in the idea of a galactic shift or not, we are each given, in every moment of every day the opportunity to choose our life. Do we choose love and truth or fear?  The choice is ours….and the time to choose is NOW!

Mystic Crystal Revelations

Every single spiritual master that has graced this fair planet (Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, The Buddha, The Dalai Lama, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, St. Francis, Osho, Swami Rama, Yogananda, etc. etc. etc. ) attained the same understanding:  “All we need is love.”  Then they went out to share this truth with the world.  These teachers acknowledged THE common longing among human beings….and that is the longing to know love and to know peace.  Fear, they knew was the obstacle to knowing peace and love, and they shared with their students (and the rest of the world with them) specific tools for healing and releasing fear so that all could know the joyful contentment they had come to know within themselves.

And the Minds True Liberation

The key to knowing the love and the peace known by these spiritual masters is CHOICE!  And it is a matter of CHOICE.  Because of the nature of the human condition, peace and love are not likely to show up on their own.  Yes, we have fleeting glimpses of the love and the peace that we are, without ever picking up a spiritual text or engaging in a spiritual practice.  If, however, we want peace and love that will endure and if we want to more forward in our human journey in spite of the reality of fear, then we have to CHOOSE peace and love.  It is in choosing love over fear, truth over ego, peace over anxiety, joy over despair that we are liberated from the bondage of the human condition.  We find freedom when we choose love.  We find expansiveness when we know joy.  We find contentment when we cultivate peace.

Then Peace Will Guide the Planets and Love Will Steer the Stars

According to those that follow the science of astrology, November 11, 2011 marks the beginning of “The Age of Aquarius.”  Whether or not we believe in the “prophecies” about the significance of this planetary line up, one message is clear and it is clear for all of eternity……the time to choose is NOW.  If you want love, peace, joy, harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding, no more falsehood or derision…..CHOOSE IT!  Stop allowing fear to run your life.  Choose love.  Choose peace.  Choose joy.  And support that choice through sound spiritual practice.  And if you need additional support, read my book :)   Authentic Freedom – Claiming a Life of Contentment and Joy!

Hippie Prophets

The song, “The Age of Aquarius” by the Fifth Dimension is the very first song I ever remember hearing as a child and THE song that touched me in a deeply impactful and significant way.  When I first heard the song….I believed it.  I knew this was where we were being led as human beings and I knew that we would see the words of that song manifest in our lifetimes.  For whatever reason, this song has become the guiding principle of my life and I truly believe that the Divine was speaking to me in some way through this song.  So….without further ado:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0G8XJNz4bY  Let the Sunshine in!

What are the fears that stand as obstacles to your own inner peace?

How can you begin to choose love, peace, joy, instead of fear?

What spiritual practices or inspirational texts help you to stay grounded in peace and love?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Love Letters from God

Sep7

Yesterday, I gave the following spiritual exercise to a client who is working on trust issues: trusting themselves, trusting others, trusting God.  I have found this exercise to be a powerful tool for opening the heart to love and to the truth of Divine love.  God is loving, kind, gracious….the very essence of love itself…and God loves us beyond what we could ever possibly imagine!  The trick is, can we really, truly, honestly believe in the abundantly flowing love of God?

 

A Spiritual Exercise:

In this exercise, you are invited to read through the scripture passage below.  Then, going back, replace “Jacob” and “Israel” with your own name, then re-read the passage below as if it is a love letter from God written directly to you.  Read through it several times, reflect and meditate on what you read and if you feel called to do so, record your thoughts in a notebook or journal.

But now, thus says the Lord,

who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel:

Fear not for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through water, I will be with you;

In rivers you shall not drown.

When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned;

The flames shall not consume you.

For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

Ethiopia and Seba in return for you.

Because you are precious in my eyes

And glorious

And because I love you.

Isaiah 43: 1-4a

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com

Into the Arms of the Beloved

Sep6

Love, relationships, desire, passion….all things that drive the human experience.  How do we stay grounded in wholeness and not get thrown out into the ethers as we try to cultivate healthy, intimate, loving relationships?  I certainly don’t have the answers….but I do know of a spiritual practice that does help us in our quest for love.

 

 

Teaching what I need to Learn

I’m just saying this from the get-go……I know nothing about love.  I used to think I knew everything….then I got married, had joy, suffered loss, struggled, got divorced.  Apparently I didn’t know everything….and there are a billion lessons I have learned being in relationship with one individual for nearly 20 years.  Much of what I learned were all the things I did wrong and all the illusions I brought into the relationship that later proved to be false, along with all my unhealed childhood wounds that probably made an enduring relationship impossible from the start.  And while it is easy to be jaded or disillusioned about partnership, I find I still want healthy intimacy and still long for an enduring partnership.  HHHMMMM   Maybe I’m human.

Human Longing

While it would be really easy to say, “I will just be alone.  I know how to do that and I do it well,” I also recognize that as human beings, we are programmed to be in relationship.  We are a relational species and function best when in partnership and living in community.  So, while there is a profound temptation to escape into the woods into a hermitage all my own, I also recognize that we are all called to partnership and to seek out healthy intimacy.  The problem is that sometimes this longing comes out sideways and compels us into compulsive, co-dependent, addictive, unhealthy behaviors.  This is where spiritual practice becomes all the more necessary and beneficial toward our goal of healthy partnership.

Coming out Sideways

There is one primary fear and its resulting compulsion that drives the “coming out sideways” behaviors of our inborn drive for partnership.  In chapter six of my book, Authentic Freedom – Claiming a Life of Contentment and Joy, we explore the fear and its compulsion in detail.  In summary….the fear is, I am not loved and the compulsion is Envy.  When we have forgotten that love is our very nature, is who we are and who we are called to be, we seek for love outside ourselves, falsely believing that “that perfect someone” will make us feel whole, complete, loved.  WRONG!  There is nothing outside of us that can do any of these things.  Love, fulfillment, completion, wholeness are inner qualities and can only be found by seeking and journeying inward.  The good news, however, is that as we come to know the love that we are within ourselves, our external, intimate and personal relationships begin to reflect this love.  So in our search for healthy intimacy, the journey starts within!

Seeking and Finding the Beloved – the Practice of Bhakti Yoga

There is a beautiful spiritual practice that comes from the Hindu/Yogic tradition called Bhakti Yoga.  Bhakti yoga is the yoga of devotion, specifically, devotion to the “Beloved” within.  What is amazing to me is that this kind of practice is also present within both the Hebrew and Christian traditions, perhaps less obviously so, but it is there.  In Bhakti yoga, our spiritual practice is given over to rapt attention upon the Divine Beloved that resides within.  One might image the Divine Beloved as any of the Hindu expressions of the Divine – Krishna, Ganesh, Kali, Radha, etc.  In the Christian tradition, Jesus. Mary Magdalene or Mother Mary would be the image, in the Hebrew Tradition – YHWH or his forgotten feminine consort – Asherah.  And what is great about Bhakti practice is that it can take many forms, the focus being attention to the image of the Divine Beloved while engaging in whatever spiritual practice you might feel called to in the moment- Chant, Meditation, Yoga, Creative endeavors, etc.  The goal is to keep your mind fixed upon the image and the idea of the Beloved, allowing one’s self to connect more and more fully with the abundant outpouring of Love embodied by the Beloved and to sink more and more fully into remembering the Love that we are as reflected by the Beloved.  As Bhakti practice unfolds, we eventually find that there is no longer the illusion of separation between ourselves and the Divine Beloved, but that we have become one.  In this space, we remember fully the love that we are and freely and generously live that out in the world and our outward relationships begin to reflect the knowledge of this love.

Shameless Self-Promotion

If you live in the Fox Valley area and are interested in exploring this topic more deeply, I am offering a program, Conquering Co-Dependency and Opening to the Fulfillment of Love on Monday evenings starting on Monday, September 26th.  Just know….this is the teacher teaching what she needs to learn….and we will all be students in this process!

Where are you seeking outside yourself for “the person who will complete me?”

What kind of healthy intimacy do you long for?

How can you begin that search through connecting with the Divine Beloved that resides within?

Lauri Lumby

Authentic Freedom Ministries

http://yourspiritualtruth.com