Category Archives: Prayer

A Council of Nine

I heard these words this morning as sat in prayer for our planet: A Council of Nine. The words coincided with this question: What if we stopped fighting globalization and embraced it? What if we stopped trying to make one country or another great and made our planet great? Becoming one global community is the natural progression of an evolving species able to recognize their common ground. The constant battle for who is right and who is the mightiest must give way to a recognition of our common source, common needs, and common desires.

What if we stopped? Right now? What if we stopped this insane cycle of victim and victor consciousness and stepped into an elevated awareness? The goals, the desires, the deep needs of our hearts can never be met while this cycle continues. It is only in letting go of those childish ways that we mature as spiritual beings. As human beings, for that matter.

It is time to embrace one another. To honor one another’s history, to respect one another’s spiritual beliefs – or lack of them – and recognize we are one people. living on one planet, amid infinite universes. Together, we are strong, alive, and living our purpose. Divided, we step out of the rhythm and harmony of life, and we fall.

What is the Council of Nine? I’m still allowing those words to meander through my mind. Does it represent the seven chakras with an additional one for the earth and one for the sky? Perhaps. Do they represent nine aspects of human consciousness common to all sentient beings? Possibly. Does it represent nine highly evolved human beings, each representing a group of people here on earth – seven continents, one ocean, and one connecting the earth to the universe? A concept to ponder to be sure.

For today, I sit in an awareness that I am a spiritual being having a minimum of seven spiritual centers actively moving throughout my physical and energetic bodies, each connecting me through the ethers to all other beings. I focus too on the energy center below and the energy center above connecting me to earth and sky. I affirm my oneness with all that is and seek to find the subtly expanding light of individuals awakening everywhere. The threads of light connecting us create a great web of life, love, and universal harmony. This is the greatness upon which we must turn our attention. We are one, though some may not know it yet. We are one, and all is evolving and unfolding in perfect divine order.

© 2019. Eileen Patra.

Eileen Patra is an ordained Unity minister and the author of The Mystical Ark: A Vessel of Blessings available at www.themysticalark.com and other fine retailers.

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.

© 2019. Eileen Patra

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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Funny Thing About Miracles

MIRACLES.dreamstime_xs_54350453

There’s a funny thing about miracles. They always require us to do something different than we’ve been doing.

In my prayer time this morning, the health of our planet came to mind, and I found myself wanting God to do something about it. I wanted God to miraculously alter the way we have abused our earthly home and bring it back to its pristine and healthy state. I wanted a miracle. And then I remembered, God can only do for us what God can do through us. We, every one of us, must change something in our thoughts, words, and actions to bring our planet once more into its glory. It’s the way miracles work.

Think about the things we call miracles. In every miracle of Jesus, someone has to DO something. At the Wedding Feast at Cana, water is only turned into wine after the stewards fill the jars with water. No water, no wine.

A blind man who wishes to see must put mud over his eyes and then wash it away. The man whose son is gravely ill must return to him and believe the healing will occur. The woman who had hemorrhaged for twelve years? She reached out and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.

Miracles require us to do something. And that something involves a change of thought, a change of belief, a change of words, and a change of action. They require action grounded in absolute faith.

What miracle are you looking for today? And what will you change? What voice will you listen to? What will you believe – the impossible? Or the possible? And what will you do differently?

What does a 21-day complaint fast mean to me?

woman-954785_1920-1It means taking care with every thought and word I express. Although an adverse thought is not necessarily a “complaint,” it does require carefully acknowledgement and often a shift of consciousness to expressing it in words or actions.

Conversation takes on a much quieter character as we carefully consider our words before speaking them. Likewise, expressing thoughts about what is happening around us, particularly the news, becomes an activity for deep contemplation. If what we focus our attention on is what we create and experience, careful reflection on our thoughts, opinions, perspectives, and responses becomes critically important to our own well-being and that which the world experiences too.

Today, after a brief setback earlier this week, I continue my fast. I notice that there are a number of positive things happening in the world. I give thanks for those and consider them answered prayer. As I look at the things occurring that still cause my heart to ache, my mind to contort my inner Christ to remind me to ‘shift that thought!” I choose to keep the words of complaint and judgment to myself. I express the facts and specific needs, but not the judgement. I take positive action where possible and I choose to look at challenging occurrences in a new Light, one of spiritual unfoldment, and a evolutionary movement within the heart of humankind that leaves no stone unturned, no dark place hidden so that we might release, transform, and ascend to greater heights.

© 2018. Rev. Eileen Patra. Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity Minister currently serving Unity of Livonia in Livonia, MI. You can view her Sunday messages online at http://www.unityoflivonia.org 

 

God in the Midst

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“God in the midst…

I trust in You.” Job 13:15

The story of Job is one of challenge after challenge. It is one of trouble, sorrow and pain, ultimately met with a deep and abiding Trust in God.  It is this ultimate and complete Trust in God that we are called to in times of great challenge and conflict, for without it our troubles may seem insurmountable, too big to handle.  Our sense of well-being and peace may seem eternally lost. But it is WITH GOd that “all things are possible.” When we trust that the underlying Source of Life is continuously conspiring for our ultimate good, for the good of ALL beings, we find peace in the midst of any disturbance. To trust is to rely on, to expect that our needs will be met, to know that whatever is occurring is only a step in the ongoing process of returning to wholeness and oneness WITH God.

AFFIRMATION: One WITH the One Power, One Presence, One Activity, God the Good, I find Peace in the midst.

(c) 2017. Rev. Eileen Patra

Conquering Crocodiles: Living the FEAR-less Life

cc.crocodile.6972761985_b3dd85a42e_oThe crocodile trainer uses a distraction to maintain a safe distance from its powerful jaws.  He enters the pen and throws the croc a piece of rope to chew on while he maneuvers to a safe place from which to feed and appease this fearsome beast. 

Fear, like a powerful beast, can grip our minds and hearts in its jaws and pull us into a downward spiral.  Unattended, not managed, it often develops into anger, hatred and exclusion.  Managing or treating the extended symptoms of fear is a temporary and inadequate response for it fails to resolve the underlying cause. 

Fear is a tool of the human psyche meant to preserve our physical safety.  Its only job is to alert us to the possibility of danger.  The problem is in its primitiveness.  It cannot discern between the real and the unreal.  It does not sense the difference between that past, present and future.  It cannot see beyond the physical senses.  It sees but has no vision.  It hears but cannot listen.  It feels but cannot touch. The response is up to us.  The typical responses; fight (anger), flight (leave) or freeze (apathy) are inadequate, for they fail to create a sustained sense of safety.  They do not appease the aspect of consciousness that raises the symptoms of fear.

So, what to do then? A completely new response to fear must be implemented if we are to transcend its grip and evolve as a collective consciousness.  Facing fear and its extended we bring them into the Light of greater understanding.  We recognize the underlying cause as fear and we shine the Light of Love and Harmony.  We create for ourselves and safe space sheltered by the shield of Divine Love that transforms and harmonizes the energies of hatred and fear.  From the shelter of Divine Love we open our hearts to forgiveness and inclusion.  We refuse to engage in hatred. We refuse to respond with anger.  We allow a greater wisdom and peace to transfuse our minds and hearts and we become the beacons of Light.  We hold an image of Love and Light that transforms every fear-filled soul into a vessel of peace and harmony.  We listen with our hearts and we respond with Love.  We hear the crocodile mind speaking from the back of our humanness and we say Peace, Be Still. The Christ in me is awakened. Thanks for the warning but God and I have got this. 

© 2017. Rev. Eileen Patra. Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity minister currently serving as pastor at Unity of Livonia in Michigan.

BE-Holding the Light

hologram.cc.1569468739_b7ca26acca_qOne cannot hold Light while one is holding darkness. It would be like filling your arms with laundry and then trying to pick up a bushel of apples with the same arms.  The laundry would have to be set down first.  For this reason, Jesus told his followers, when you pray “… first be reconciled with your brother.” Matt 5:24

When you wish to hold the Light, to affirm wholeness and the Light of God in action, you must first release all notions of darkness.  Reconcile these things by acknowledging they are not the Truth and requesting of Spirit that whatever is not Truth or Light be released, dissolved, set down and overshadowed by Light.  In this way, you are released and healed and those for whom you pray are also released and made new.

© 2017. Rev. Eileen Patra

An Unexpected Journey, part 1

cc.14132367384_525d253cb5_zFor those of you who generally follow my posts you may have noticed I’ve been on a blogging hiatus.  I’ve found myself on a path I could not have predicted as my husband’s journey of healing has taken the spotlight in our lives.  As a firm believer in the power of the mind to create our experiences and of the natural state of wholeness that underlies any appearance of illness, a sudden health challenge should be a simple matter, right? Well, in fact, it is simple, but the mind is a complicated aspect of our consciousness, not easily harnessed. It can be like a wild horse taking flight … in a variety of possible directions. 

As I sit here this afternoon, I find myself excited at returning to the keyboard, ready to write about this journey.  Even though it is not yet complete, the experience has already been and filled with underlying blessings, invisible to many, and often hidden from that runaway horse.  It has been peppered with moments of enlightenment, and moments of the runaway horse heading into a darkening sunset.  But the moments of enlightenment are the moments I am eager to explore and ready to being sharing. 

In November, after a visit with my brother who had been diagnosed with ALS, I returned to find that my husband’s doctor had discovered a suspicious nodule on his lung.  The nodule turned out to be nothing, but the tests revealed a mass in his other lung, and that has led us into this current journey; from Xray, to CT scan, to biopsy, to the severe complications from the biopsy which postponed the recommended surgery.  Now, one could get very upset on this journey. Fear could be the destination of the runaway horse. Or, one could find the blessings along the path.  We have, for the most part, chosen the blessings.  And they are many.  A prolonged wait time for surgery provides more time for his energetic body to return to wholeness; more time for prayer and spiritual healing.  The demands of his current treatment have given us a rare opportunity to spend time together.  It has given us multiple opportunities to witness the face of God in friends, family, and health care professionals. It has given us the opportunity to truly practice our Truth.  And, the dis-ease itself can be seen as a catalyst for a much greater healing that has nothing to do with tumors or lesions or PET scans at all. This healing is of the heart and soul. This healing is a joint venture between two souls committed to a common path; committed to their role in the evolution of the planet.  This healing is an opportunity for growth and transformation in unexpected and miraculous ways.  This healing is a miracle unfolding and I am excited at all that is being revealed.  I look forward to my first Sunday back at Unity of Livonia on March 12, 2017 (EDT) when I share some of the experiences of this journey in my talk titled “Life is Like a Box of Chocolates…”

©2017. Rev. Eileen DeRosia Patra. 

The Miracle of Hope

hope-dreamstimefree_30348689HOPE is a doorway to the miraculous.  HOPE is our ability to expect a positive outcome when there seems to be little evidence of it.  HOPE is the first glimmer of Faith that causes us to take action.  The woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment HOPED that she would be healed.  After 12 years of hemorrhaging, she saw a glimmer of HOPE in Him and His growing reputation as a miraculous healer. Jesus told her that her Faith had made her well.  Faith is HOPE in action. It is HOPE that causes the quickening of Faith, Strength and Will.  When we look out into the world and wonder how we can stop the hemorrhaging, it is this miraculous ability to have HOPE that stirs the greater power of the Christ in us to take positive action in order to manifest the peace, harmony and wholeness we wish to see and experience.  Through HOPE we know that our prayer intentions are more than just a plea to a chaotic universe.  Through HOPE we establish ourselves in the power and presence of the invisible Source of all peace and harmony.  We align our minds and hearts with the All-ness of God and our Faith returns us to the wholeness from which we come.  Today is the day to have HOPE and move in the direction of this miraculous stimulus for healing.

© 2016. Reverend Eileen DeRosia Patra

Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity minister currently serving at Unity of Livonia in Livonia, Michigan.

The Laser Beam in Me

laser-cc-845829930_15187093dc_qA LASER, an extraordinary focused beam of Light has truly miraculous capabilities.  Simple waves of Light that usually bounce off of objects of matter, become capable of cutting through the densest structures of steel.  The same powerful LASER beam is capable of the most delicate and intricate medical procedures, isolating and dissolving unhealthy cells or tumors without disturbing the surrounding tissues.  Even the delicate structure of the human eye can be treated with a LASER to improve or restore eyesight.  Like LASER beams, we too are made of Light and we too can achieve miraculous results by focusing and concentrating our thoughts and awareness on that which we wish to experience.  Faith is the tool that gathers the Light in us, Prayer and Affirmations concentrate our awareness, dissolving what is not aligned with the Light in us.  Through this heightened and focused awareness, we can cut through seemingly immovable obstacles.  We can perform the intricate procedure of dissolving thoughts and beliefs that keep us small.  Through the focused awareness of ourselves as Light, as offspring of the Light of God, we become like LASERs, cutting through the delicate veil that separates the world of form from the vastness of Beingness; and suddenly, we see with pinpoint accuracy, the Oneness of God that has always there all along.  The LASER beam of Light focused on God shining through, reveals the Kingdom of the Heavens that has surrounded us from the beginning but we have failed to see.

© 2016. Reverend Eileen DeRosia Patra

Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity minister currently serving at Unity of Livonia in Livonia, Michigan.