Be inspired and challenged by these articles about grace, spirituality and spiritual growth.
How to be an instrument of healing
I feel that grace and healing are intrinsically linked.
They merge together to create moments of love — which is the greatest healer.
And, as we know, love can manifest in many different forms such as joy, laughter, or even tears of relief.
Like grace, healing is not something that can be decided upon.
We can decide that we want to be a vehicle for healing or that we would like to receive some healing. But we can’t decide when, where or what form the healing takes. That’s not our role. Continue reading
Positive + Positive = Positive
Many people talk to me about positive thinking.
They often tell me they’re doing their best to avoid negative people. But what they don’t seem to understand is how negative they themselves are being in that very moment of judgment.
Positive + Positive = Positive
A statement reflective of this might be: ‘I’m working with positive thinking and I’m finding I’m just getting on so much better with everyone!’
Positive + Negative = Negative
That statement might go something like: ‘I’m working with positive thinking but all the negative people are getting me down.’
Choosing to see someone as negative only adds to your isolation and can only result in you becoming even more negative. Continue reading
While you’re being ‘professional’ are you still being yourself?
In our modern world, the word ‘professionalism’ has come to represent an ideal of standards and quality in business.
We don’t only expect professional work to be presented to us in the best possible model available, but for it to be presented to us by someone who epitomises, what we consider, a professional image.
Whilst this is great at the level of feeling that the work we’ve paid for has been delivered in the best possible way, it’s not so great when we consider what might be going on for the individual behind the image. Continue reading
Are you operating on grace’s wavelength?
Grace is something which, to my mind, seems to be rapidly disappearing from our experience in life.
People seem to be sensing its loss but don’t really seem to know what it is they’re losing.
As a species, we have spent so much time trying to achieve something … anything … everything, that we have apparently lost as a result, moments of grace in our lives.
Maybe grace never leaves.
Maybe it’s always occurring without our knowledge and it’s our responsibility to look for its presence.
But the fact we have to look for it, that we simply don’t feel it, suggests our lives are operating on a frequency that’s not on the wavelength of grace. Continue reading
Atheist or believer, it’s still a matter of faith
I always watch with fascination when a panel or interviewer brings together an atheist and a believer.
Usually, they’re very well educated, and it always ends up being a competition rather than a sharing of different beliefs.
Of course, I’m always hoping the chosen representative of my team, The Believers, will say the things I’m thinking and win a point for our side.
But what usually follows is a steady and consistent thrashing as The Atheists pull their punches and win the day.
Their arguments often include, ‘God is for the weak minded who don’t like to face reality’, and ‘where’s the proof?’
I’m not sure if it’s my bias or a truly honest observation, but it seems to me that The Atheist becomes increasingly aggressive whilst The Believer, often a cleric, withdraws. Continue reading
God versus The Universe
Over the years, I’ve found that I’ve had an uneasiness about use of the term ‘The Universe’.
Many people uncomfortable with the word ‘God’ seem to use the ‘The Universe’ as if the two were interchangeable.
I didn’t know what caused my uneasiness, but it was there whenever I heard this expression.
Conversely, I found that many, many people objected to, or were even offended by, the word ‘God’. So many people have negative associations with this word, largely owing to unpleasant and even sometimes detrimental experiences with religion, its teachings, or its clerics.
However, none of this explained my aversion to the ubiquitous new-age term ‘The Universe’. Continue reading