Forgiveness is the scent that the rose leaves on the heel that crushes it. Source Unknown

Forgiveness is a mystical alchemy that frees your awareness from the entire human desire for retribution for the injuries you have received. To enter the realm of forgiveness it takes more than what is humanly possible to transcend the pull of justice. It takes a divine grace to enter the equation because it makes no sense to the rational mind. You must move out of the realm of the thought of law and order into your soul and expression of unconditional love. Being hostile and destructive is not a normal behavior of your spirit. It has to be fed motives by the human mind to remain engaged in resentment. To have a clearer understanding of what would free you, you’ve got to drop the tapes you’ve been running.

Your mind will rehearse, choreograph, and cling to sometimes truly horrific scenarios of the past, embellished by others to keep you clinging. You must be willing to go deep in your yielding of what’s going on for you so a better way may emerge. Remember that your intellect cannot understand the spiritual side of forgiveness. It wants to play in this realm, but it’s not its natural domain, nor does it have the capacity, and it doesn’t do well letting go of the lead. You must surrender to grace’s repatterning of your whole matrix where forgiveness neutralizes the pain from the past. Pictures and memories that you are holding on to from across your life’s spectrum of occurrences will lose their hold on your psyche, and that release will open the heart to a divine guidance. When you turn your attention to God instead of revenge, the human mind must surrender its smallness, and a new picture emerges from the heart.

Spiritual Contemplation: Where could you use some divine intervention on your thoughts of justice and retribution?

Affirmation: Grace now guides my thoughts and experiences!

It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. Eleanor Roosevelt

When you feel trapped, whether in a relationship with another person or in a situation with your employer, you feel dependent on all the outside energies for your well-being. If you’re stuck in a cubicle farm at work, it can be a struggle to maintain optimism when you hear others cursing at their computer screens all day. Being reliant on your income will put you in a stuck position if you can’t communicate from your place of self-worth. Chances are, you tolerate behavior that you would otherwise reject because the mortgage and car payment don’t care how stuck you feel. The way you bring the light to darkness that is seemingly out of your control is through choice. Choosing to move outside of your own personal power and surrender your self-pity to become a conduit for the power that is greater than your own is the means by which you will be freed.

When you choose to be a generator of radiating light, luminescence washes over the dissonance. The emanation of all power is then held until your body vibrates in perfect harmony and accord. No possible harm can come to you while you are in harmony with that God vibration. This isn’t a special privilege for just a few—it’s for all. Anyone who is intentionally being nasty is eliminated from your world by the wave of light. When the infinite in you comes forth, there is nothing that’s contrary to it. No inharmonious vibration can enter this sphere. Dissonant energy merely falls away.

Spiritual Contemplations: When are you unable to turn off negative energy around you? Practice turning on the Divine generator, that which channels an infinite source of vibrational abundance, and is greater than your own personal source of light. Vaporize the nastiness and move into your vibration of harmony.

Affirmation: I am a generator of harmony in every situation!

Growing into your future with health and grace and beauty doesn’t have to take all your time. It rather requires a dedication to caring for yourself as if you were rare and precious, which you are, and regarding all life around you as equally so, which it is. Victoria Moran

Spirit sees you as infinitely precious and worthy. You are, after all, an incarnation of Itself, expressing and experiencing life as you. There is only one of you. Spirit always wants the highest and best for you, and sees you having it through the eyes of Love. Start seeing yourself as Spirit sees you, as Love sees you. Take time today to explore how you could. Now, open to what will allow you to express more Spirit, Live more Joy, and be more Love.

Spiritual Contemplation: Do you know that you are rare and precious? Do you treat yourself with the tender care you deserve?

Affirmation: I treat myself and everyone else as the rare and precious beings we are!

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor. Thich Nhat Hanh

Have you ever watched the clouds taking on their unique shapes and then transform into something else before they just float out of existence? Have you ever watched a forceful storm blow in from the horizon in all its fury? Maybe you’ve even seen a tornado twisting through the sky or sucking the water out of the ocean. Or watched the whole sky disappear in a whiteout from falling snow or dense fog. Where did the sky go in all of these scenarios? Nowhere, of course! It remained the constant, unchanged space as all the activity blew through with a convincing performance that it was the sky, but the truth is, all of it was just passing through the unbothered space we call “sky.”

Your observing consciousness witnesses your thoughts, dramas, and soul-searching defining moments without being impacted in the least. The higher aspect is not impacted by your stories. A part of you that has never been hurt or violated lovingly beholds your unfoldment without any judgment. It’s like the sky with all the weather passing through it—the weather is not the sky, and your experiences are not you. Weather takes place within the sky, and the dynamics of your life take place within your field of awareness. You are not your stories any more than the weather is the sky. Watch your happenings and narratives pass through who you really are like clouds passing through the sky.

Spiritual Contemplation: Sit and watch your thoughts form and dissipate through your mind without attachment. Then notice you observing you as you watch those thoughts.

Affirmation: I gracefully observe myself moving through life!

Never lose the childlike wonder. Show gratitude. . . Don’t complain; just work harder. . . Never give up. Randy Pausch

“Star of Wonder, Star of Light” reminds us to see life with wonder and awe. There is so much more going on than just the outer forms of our ordinary lives. Through the eyes of a child, an ordinary toy car becomes an extraordinary monster drag-racing winner. This holiday give yourself the gift of stopping and seeing the extraordinary in your life. It’s there! You just have to open your God-eyes with childlike wonder, anticipation, and joy. These eyes will enliven what seems to have lost its sparkle and renew you. Let the Season work its magic on YOU!

Spiritual Contemplation: How much childlike wonder do you have these days? Where do you find it?

Affirmation: I see the world with the eyes of wonder. I am in awe of its beauty and love!

The grace of God means something like: “Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you.” Frederick Buechner

Ernest Holmes writes, “Every sacred book is a Divine document insofar as it is true. Any note of pure harmony ever struck on any instrument or by the human voice is a harmony of God, a revelation of God, an action of God, and an impersonation of God. Every step in a dance that is pure symmetry and grace is that which is the essence of loveliness. Every essay ever written that speaks the truth is God proclaiming it. There is only God; and we must not deny the slightest fact to affirm the omnipresence of God—over all, in all and through all.”

Grace is Spirit’s gift of life to us, unearned and joyfully given. What we do with it is our gift back to the Whole, or as some people say, “Grace without works is dead.” Every time we live, act, and move from the center of our being, we give the Divine Presence reality in human expression. This is what is meant by the incarnation, and this is what we celebrate throughout the season of light.

Spiritual Contemplation: How are you manifesting and sharing the gift of Grace, your very life, with the world?

Affirmation: I accept the gift of Grace as the Presence of the Divine. I return that gift with the work of my hands, my heart, and my life.

We are born with the capacity to learn how to dream, and the humans who live before us teach us how to dream the way society dreams. The outside dream has so many rules that when a new human is born, we hook the child’s attention and introduce these rules into his or her mind. The outside dream uses Mom and Dad, the schools, and religion to teach us how to dream. Don Miguel Ruiz

My mom used to tell my sister and me, “It doesn’t matter that you are girls; you can grow up to do or be anything you want to do or be!” This was a great positive message and I believed it. Not everyone, however, treated me this way. There were many things I learned, subtly and overtly, that I couldn’t do or have because I was a girl. The reverse happened to my guy friends. A box was laid out that we were each supposed to fit into—a box that defined what our lives were supposed to look like, what success meant, and how we would know if we were happy.

But now it’s time to wake up from the societal trance. Your good, your joy, happiness, love, or peace isn’t out there. It’s not in your bank account, the gifts under the tree, the job, or the house. Stop being run by what you think should make you or others happy! Listen to your own inner being; follow your inner guidance; find out where your joy lives. Bliss is an inside job, and it requires you to be awake.

Spiritual Contemplation: Are you still living inside the box and asleep to your true desires?

Affirmation: I am awake. I desire only that which supports my bliss and the bliss of others!

The God that is in us is the same God that is universal. There is no wall of separation, no barrier, no place where one begins and the other leaves off. All is one and one is all. Ernest Holmes

Getting caught in your human struggle can cause you to question your Oneness with Spirit. You might imagine yourself like a windowpane. No matter how dirty the pane is, it doesn’t affect the sunlight itself. The sun always shines brightly. It’s every false idea of who you are, every smallness, littleness, resentment, and unforgiveness, that clouds the windowpane. Every time you feel unable, unworthy, or unnecessary, you are fogging the window with the illusion of separation.

Clean your dirty window with deep spiritual truths and a new way of seeing yourself and the world. The birthing of the Light that we celebrate in so many ways this season is all about this eternal light that is always shining. When we see with the eyes of the ONE, look how bright the light becomes! This brightness is your eternal Oneness with Spirit. You only sometimes seem separate from it. Remember, you never really are.

Spiritual Contemplation: What beliefs or stories do you carry that separate you from your ONENESS?

Affirmation: The eternal Light is revealed within me and within all people. In this light our Oneness is revealed.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow, What a Ride!” Hunter S. Thompson

When an imposing issue looms large it seems natural to look at it. But what you focus on grows more real and often increases the discomfort around it. It’s similar to what happens when your car goes into a skid. The natural tendency is to look at what you’re skidding toward. Wrong. Because you steer toward what you’re looking at, you end up driving right into the very collision you want to avoid. Racecar drivers know to look away from the skid and with that comes the ability to steer away from the impending disaster, such as a wall.

Remember though, the car’s response time isn’t immediate—there’s a natural delay between the turn and the response of the vehicle. The same is true about life—when you change your focus there may be some gap time between your new cause and its effect showing up in your world. Be patient with the responsiveness to the new form taking shape in your body, mind, or world of affairs. Form does follow consciousness; it always has and always will. It’s your job to turn away from where you don’t want to go, and life’s momentum will fulfill its part.

Spiritual Contemplation: Are there any walls you seem to be racing toward? It doesn’t matter if this wall is a doctor, a bank, or relationship—call it to your attention and look in the other direction to avoid a crash.

Affirmation: My path is clear!

Take time to be aware that in the very midst of our busy preparations for the celebration of Christ’s birth in ancient Bethlehem, Christ is reborn in the Bethlehems of our homes and daily lives. Take time, slow down, be still, be awake to the Divine Mystery that looks so common and so ordinary, yet is wondrously present. Edward Hayes

I love Christmas carols, and one of my favorites of the traditional carols I grew up with is “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” I love how it talks about the stillness of the town and how quiet everything feels as the Christ is born. Other lovely songs in both English and German talk about the stillness of the forest in a snowfall at this time of year. How wonderful to be reminded to seek out stillness and quiet in the midst of the hustle and bustle of our preparation for the holidays.

Spiritual Contemplation: How will you find stillness and take time to slow down during this season?

Affirmation: I invite in the stillness and the quiet as I slow down and take time to nourish my soul with the Presence of the Christ Child.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his rightness and all other things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33

If it weren’t for some challenging situation in people’s lives they probably would never have wandered into the teachings of the New Thought movement with its universal metaphysical principles of truth from the ancient wisdom. It’s easy to get caught in the idea that this power can be used to overcome the challenges of your life. The difficulty is not an error of a real nature that must be overcome, but a belief in the physical expression as the truth of who you are. New Thought isn’t about using a bigger power to overcome a lesser one, but a knowing that the so-called error doesn’t exist as the spiritual truth of who you are. Healing has moved beyond looking for a mental cause to knowing the dis-ease cannot exist in the realm of the Infinite because there can be no otherness, no other power, hence nothing to overcome.

When you move into the realization that God is your very awareness and live in a spiritual alertness, you’ll find your needs being forever fulfilled. As you shift into being a beholder of spirit, then that which is unlike it falls away. Spirit isn’t sending your good to you; rather, it is emerging as your healing. So don’t turn to God to improve the situation, but for the consciousness of God appearing as the perfect expression that is already available. The Infinite takes on all forms. So let your demonstration be in the consciousness of the omnipresence even in the midst of the challenge at hand.

Spiritual contemplation: Where do you believe the physical fact is the truth of who you are and is greater than the spirit of your being?

Affirmation: My life is spirit appearing!

I hope it is true a man can die and yet not only live in others but give them life, and not only life, but that great consciousness of life. Jack Kerouac

Losing a dear friend after many years of sharing and loving is painful. Of course you can’t help missing them, but indeed your life is richer for all the memories of caring and love you received and gave. You have so much more to bring to the world and your relationships with others because they were such an important part of your life. Their tender touch lives in your heart, and all that you do will move through a piece of them in you for the rest of your life. They truly are part of your every act and thought. They are closer than a phone call, but you must now learn a new communication system.

Your loved one would not want you to remain overly sad for too long, but rather be a place where aliveness and joy are part of your daily experience. Isn’t that what you’d want for the ones you love? Love transcends time and space and the link of love that brought you together has not been severed because of death. It is Omni-dimensional, and just as true of the spirit that animates your physical body. This plane of human form is only one stopping place on its evolving journey. When the soul is complete here, it leaves behind the physical body, which is the ideal vehicle for this plane of expression, and continues on its forward journey otherwise unchanged, but enriched by the love experienced here. One doesn’t die to become immortal— you are immortal now, and a living person can never die.

Spiritual Contemplation: Allot some space in this day to find a quiet spot and bring a loved one who is no longer in this world into the memory of your loving heart. Spend some time connecting with them.

Affirmation: I believe in the continuity of the individual soul that is forever expanding!

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.  From a headstone in Ireland.

The Holidays may bring you face to face with the loss of someone you love. Grief is a powerful experience and requires expression. Speak the name of your loved one, and remember his or her gift to you and your life. Remember how much more you have to bring to life because of the time you shared.

Spiritual Contemplation: Write a love letter to the one you’ve lost and whom you miss.

Affirmation: My grief is an outward sign of my love. I allow my grief to be a gentle and tender expression of my heart. I know the Love of Spirit supports me always.

The Topps Company developed its Bazooka Bubble Gum product in Brooklyn, New York after the end of World War II. It was named after the humorous musical instrument which entertainer Bob Burns had fashioned from two gas pipes and a funnel in the 1930s. (This contraption also gave its name to the armor-piercing weapon developed during the War.) Bazooka Joe comic Bazooka, with its distinctive name, taste, and red, white and blue logo and packaging, soon became a familiar part of Americana. OldTimeCandy.com

Every now and then, a scent or a thought of a taste triggers childhood memories, and one of those is Bazooka Bubble Gum, the classic bubble gum with the Bazooka Joe comic inside the wrapper. One of my earliest candy-buying memories was being knee-high to the counter as I selected those little individually wrapped pieces of bubble gum from the bottom shelf at Mr. Chinn’s candy shop. It’s what a whole generation of kids learned to blow bubbles with, and I couldn’t even play a Little League game without some in my mouth. So it’s sad to report that Bazooka Bubble Gum as you knew it from your childhood is no longer. In an effort to appeal to a new generation, the taste, shape, and packaging have all been changed and Bazooka Joe rests among the fallen.

Nostalgic moments live in your heart and soul forever, occasionally transporting you to a more innocent and simple time in your life. Today’s kids are creating memories of their own that in a few decades will trigger the same kind of smile from those warm remembrances. This heart experience allows all to meet in the subjective space that transcends linear time.

Spiritual Contemplation: Find a quiet space and allow a pleasant memory, scent, or taste to transport you to an innocent time that warms your heart and puts a smile on your face. Then notice how real it is now and how you just transcended time and space.

Affirmation: Innocent and simpler times that make me smile are alive within my heart!