Category Archives: Law of Attraction

Physically Apart – Together in Heart

Physically Apart – Together in Heart

Although COVID-19 has limited our physical gatherings and much of our day-to-day activities, it has not separated us in either Spirit or Heart. We have been able to connect through the wonders of technology, including video calls and live streaming church services. Additionally, we have been encouraged to go outside, to walk our dogs, to take walks with people with whom we live. And here is what I’ve noticed on those walks.

There is a peaceful quiet in the neighborhood that feels simultaneously good and somehow foreign. I don’t remember when I’ve felt such a powerful stillness in the city. I suspect it was some lifetime ago, as a child playing in a neighbors yard. It is quiet, the birds are singing profusely, and neighbors are stopping what they are doing to say hello. And not just hello. There is a smile, a look of knowing of one another’s need to feel connected that leaks through that smile and touches my heart. In this time apart, we are truly connected by the heart.

Did you know that when two humans interact with one another, their heartbeats begin to synchronize? It seems that close physical proximity draws our heart energy into a matching rhythm. But this coherence of heart does not have to remain limited to physical proximity.

When we take time apart – not from one another – but from daily tasks, media reports, and worry, by going within to that very same heart space, we connect. We connect with our spiritual being, the divine spark that dwells within each of us. We connect through a network of Spirit that exceeds the Cloud, hosted by the Allness that we sometimes refer to as God, Allah, Spirit, or the One.

In the Allness, there is an infinite connection; each of us is like a strand of Light reaching outward into the world of form and returning back again. In this turning back again, we find rest, wholeness, and a thing called dominion.

In the Book of Genesis, God grants humankind dominion the earth and all the things that creep upon it. The most basic interpretation of this passage reveals a gift, one that allows humanity to rise to the top of the food chain. But there is so much more to this message.

Dominion means the ability to control or govern. Metaphysically, the plants, animals, and things that creep represent thoughts, words, and actions. Thoughts and ideas that are fruitful and in coherence with the Allness produce experiences of abundance, creativity, and well-being. Thoughts out of alignment with the wholeness of God may, when given much attention, create experiences that lack wholeness and well being.

Created in the image and likeness of the power that created the universe, we, too, are creative. Our thoughts, words, and actions create our experiences, the quality of our relationships, and ultimately, our world.

Certainly, fleeting thoughts like “what would happen if a dinosaur entered the room right now?” are not likely to manifest. Why? Because we don’t give those kinds of thoughts, much attention. They pass through our minds, we smile or frown, and then we think something else.

It’s the thoughts we give a great deal of attention to, the ones we allow to occupy our minds and hearts, that produce more of the same. Our thoughts are contagious. They grow and multiply – and they tend to manifest in our bodies, our experiences, and our world. So, why not choose those thoughts carefully, from a higher consciousness?

What if Love and all the ways it harmonizes, draws together, and replicates itself, were our most prominent thought? What if kindness and compassion and the assurance of abundance occupied the most significant space in our minds and hearts?

The thought would become contagious. It would expand and open those channels of Light that connect us one heart to another. The resulting energy would become so strong that nothing could interrupt the flow of Love and Light from one heart to the other. Nothing out of alignment with this integral connection with God would have any power or ability to manifest or replicate. We would be choosing to exercise dominion over all that manifests in the world. We would know that, at times, we may be physically apart, but always, we are together in the heart and mind of God.

Eileen Patra is an ordained Unity minister and the author of The Mystical Ark: A Vessel of Blessings. She is currently serving as co-minister of the Spiritual Life Center in Troy, Michigan, and working on her second book, Living as the Ark.

Wake Up! It’s Time to be You!

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Wake Up! It’s Time to be You!

I was a typical, rebellious, and always-in-need-of-more-sleep, teenager. My mother had a heck of a time getting me out of bed in the morning – or even the afternoon on weekends. Perhaps you can relate. Perhaps you can hear that voice that called you repeatedly, “Wake up. You’ll be late for school.” Or, as I would often hear, “Wake up. The early bird catches the worm.” Like I had any intention of eating worms!

Today, I wake up before the sun rises. It’s something that happens to some of us as we enter our golden years. Maybe they’re golden because we’ve started catching those worms. I don’t know, but I do know it’s time to wake up. Not because it’s time for school. Not because there are worms to catch. But because it’s time to be you.

“I am awake.” You say. How could I be anything other than me?” You ask. But are you truly awake to who you really are? Are you awake to all that you are intended to be? Are you awake and catching the unique and glorious role you play in the grander scheme of life?

You are an individualized expression of the Divine. You are an integral part of a greater whole. Everything you think, do and say is vital to the life and well being of the whole. It is impossible to be separate from this wholeness. But you can, and many of us often are, asleep to it.

We live in a world that functions on separation. What we see with our physical eyes and experience with our physical feelings tells us – no – convinces us that we are alone, completely independent from one another. But this is not the truth of you.

I watched a video yesterday of an aerial view of trees moving in the breeze. It was a fascinating image. The trees moved in such unison they appeared to be one organism, breathing in absolute harmony. In essence, they are exactly that; one organism breathing in harmony. Yet, from our everyday perspective, each one appears to be a separate tree.

So it is with our human expressions of life; one organism appearing as separate beings, having unique shapes, sizes, and personalities. Yet, from a higher perspective, all are one living, breathing expression of the Essence of Life.

When you are truly awake to your role in this magnificent whole, you can no longer feel alone. You lose the desire to judge, to fight, or to be better-than. Instead, you desire and exude harmony. Your harmonizing efforts may seem small at first, unimportant, unproductive. But every thought, every movement, every action stimulates a reaction in the whole. Like a tree responding to the wind, its movement creating an additional breeze influencing the movement of the one next to it, what you do stimulates a response from the person next to you.

Our world has been moving in a state of disharmony long enough. Nothing that you do in this life is as vital as recognizing the power of the Divine within you and living from this awakened state of being. When you reawaken every single day, every single moment and breathe this harmonized thought into expression, you make a difference in the world around you. As harmony is reflected back to you, your understanding and desire for unity increases and you move in even greater harmony. The feeling and awareness grow.

It’s time. It’s past time. Wake up and be you. The world needs you right now.

Eileen Patra is an author, inspirational speaker, and retired Unity minister. She is the author of the life-changing metaphysical and visionary novel, The Mystical Ark, available from retailers and wholesalers everywhere including:

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From Dream to Reality

The Making of The Mystical Ark

Eileen with first copy of The Mystical Ark

I had an idea once. I thought there might be a deeper meaning to the scripture commonly known as The Ten Commandments. As a student at what is now known as Unity Worldwide Spiritual Institute, I learned to interpret the Bible metaphysically, meaning beyond the physical. I found this view of scripture fascinating as the words on the page opened up to reveal an underlying story that made so much sense it brought tears to my eyes.

I learned that the name Moses means “drawn from the water,” and that water represents a sea of consciousness, in this case, a consciousness of bondage and limitation. Suddenly, this story was not about a group of people that lived thousands of years ago. It was a story about you and me; a story about being drawn out of a sea of negative thought and freed from limiting beliefs.

It was from this expanded perspective that the first seed thoughts of The Mystical Ark were planted in my mind. The theme first emerged as a series Sunday school lessons titled, Seekers of the Lost Ark. The Indiana Jones movies were popular then, and the allusion to the Lost Ark film made the lessons more engaging for the kids. Years later, the idea took shape as a series of Sunday sermons, followed by a collection of essays that I was determined to make into a book.

Progress on the book was painfully slow, and the distractions were many. A half-written manuscript sat on my shelf for a year or two. But the idea would not go away. I would move on to something else, and then someone would ask when I was going to do the next talk in the series or when I would publish the book. Spirit seemed to be using people around me to encourage me to get busy with the book – and soon. So, I planned a writing binge; a weekend with the house to myself, no distractions, and forty-eight hours of nearly non-stop writing. Surely, I would complete this project before Monday rolled around. It was a great plan. I had lots of enthusiasm for it, but it didn’t happen quite that way. That weekend writing spree turned out to be just the beginning.

The morning I was to begin my writing marathon, I was awakened by a lucid dream. In this dream, a small group of explorers sat in a circle around the Ark of the Covenant. They were dirty. Their clothing was torn and spattered with blood. They tried to open the box, but it repelled them. They were all unable to touch it – except for one member of the team. When she approached the relic, her hand slipped right through the invisible force-field that had deterred the others. Then, the box opened, revealing a passageway to another realm of being. The entire team was pulled through the opening into a mystical experience that would forever change their lives.

The dream clung to me in vivid detail. I tried inserting the scene as a fictional forward to my exegeses of the Ark. But that didn’t work. The fictional scene was engaging – but the shift to the essays was abrupt and disorienting. It was as if two different books had been glued together rather than one leading gently into the other.

It seemed this book was destined to be a work of fiction; a story with relatable characters that would draw the reader into the experience. Writing a fictional novel was something I had never considered. I wasn’t even sure where to begin. What characters would I need to create? There was the small group of explorers in the opening scene, but I didn’t know who there were or what they would represent. What I did know was that I had to write this book. It would not leave me alone. It permeated my every thought. The Mystical Ark wanted to be born and was asking me to be its midwife.

But how does an author of spiritual essays and inspirational articles successfully birth a fictional novel? I was about to find out. The next two years would be spent putting the principles of visioning and positive thinking into action, developing a disciplined writing routine, reading every book on writing I could get my hands on, researching everything from geography and anthropology to the genetics of hair color – and oh – writing!

What began as an idea and a dream planted in my mind and heart blossomed into reality. The book is now published, and available from retailers around the world. The characters I created and lived with for the past two years are now engaging and entertaining an expanding group of readers. It is a deeply satisfying experience, and I look forward to sharing more about the steps I took to turn that dream into reality in blog posts to come.

Eileen Patra is the author of The Mystical Ark: A Vessel of Blessings and an ordained Unity minister. She is currently guest speaking at a variety of Unity churches and working on her next book, Living as the Ark. Learn more about The Mystical Ark at themysticalark.com

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The Making of The Mystical Ark

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