One 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
For 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. 
MOVEMENT is the activity of continuous motion, miraculously at work at all times. Nothing is ever not moving. Nothing is ever truly static. Though it may seem at times that nothing is happening, we are breathing, the planet we stand upon is moving, the universe is continuously expanding, everything in fact is moving all of the time. That this occurs is more fact than miracle but the awareness of MOVEMENT in what seems to be static is miraculous indeed. When it seems that nothing will change, that the things of the world are too big, too cumbersome, outside of our control; we would do well to tune into this activity, for it is Spirit that continuously moves through us. Stepping into an awareness of the movement of Spirit within us reminds us that there is no “thing” more powerful than the power of God within us. Remembering that everything is always in motion reminds us that change, evolution and transcendence are always at hand. It reminds us that all things of matter are transient, impermanent. What is permanent and unchanging is God and our awareness of our oneness in the Source of all that lives, moves and has being. That is powerful and miraculous indeed.
The Changing Leaves are always a miraculous sight for those of us in climates that provide this annual display of colorful foliage. The predictable transformation has become synonymous with change and a reminder that there is always new life, new growth just beyond what appears to be death. What is truly remarkable about the process is what causes the change in colors. As the hours of daylight become less, the tree responds to an inner signal. The signal is not to drop its leaves although that is what occurs. The signal is to begin new growth. The tree begins to direct its resources to new growth, to the buds that will occur in the spring. This focus on the new growth in turn diminishes the flow of nutrients to the current leaves and they respond by fading, falling and preparing the space for the new buds. As always, when I look at the falling leaves I know that new life will occur in the spring but today I recognize that the forming of new buds has already begun. In life, as I see something fading away, I know on an inner level that something new is forming within me. What falls away prepares the space for what is being called forth in me. This is the miracle of transformation that occurs in the trees, in my life and in the world. 
HOPE 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
FOSSILS, petrified bits of earthly history, are miraculous vessels of time. They provide a peek into the past of our planet giving us a three-dimensional snapshot to all that transpired before us. They are fascinating to behold and sometimes offer us clues to living more harmoniously with our environment than the lifeforms that preceded us. The soul of humankind, the individualized expression of God is also a vessel of time. The soul holds all the experiences of a person, each thought and emotion captured and stored for our review. Unlike a FOSSIL though, we are not petrified. What we hold in the history of our beingness is not written in stone. What has been written in our minds and hearts can be changed, evolved, transformed and even dissolved. That thought, that belief you’ve lived with for so long that leaves a heavy, uncomfortable imprint in you? What would it look like if you changed it? What would it look like if you evolved it, allowed it to grow into something more affirming and whole? What would you look like if you simply let it go?
MAGNETS are miraculous objects that attract various substances with a mysterious and often powerful force. MAGNETS are useful for lifting, holding, separating, retrieving, and sensing. They are found in everyday objects and tools such as speakers, doorbells, microwaves, televisions, compasses and, of course, on the door of many American refrigerators. Like a MAGNET, we draw to us a variety of experiences. Our thoughts, feelings and emotions create a field of energy which draws to us similar energies. Unlike a MAGNET, we can choose our thoughts, move through our feelings and emotions, consciously creating our energy field to attract that which we desire. When we fall asleep to this inner power of choice, or we give this power away to the challenges that appear before us, we attract whatever is showing up and we allow it to multiply in our consciousness. A MAGNET has no apparent choice in what it attracts, but we do. What will you choose to attract today? What thought or belief will you release in order to stop attracting something? What will you focus on with all your heart and mind that will attract a more powerful, harmonious experience in your life? What will you hold in mind and place your faith in that is a more powerful MAGNET for good? 
The CHANGING COLORS of leaves in the northern autumn season are a miraculous display of life renewing itself. Today I saw just three leaves on our maple tree that had turned a brilliant, maize. The brightly colored foliage was nested in a ground of deep, green leaves that had not yet begun to turn. Change, whether the color of leaves, or the unfolding of our lives, often occurs just a little at a time. Why rush when the real beauty lies in beholding the process? The leaves will change according their own perfect timing. Each stage will be a glorious sight to see. Our own transformation often begins with just a glimpse of something small but brighter. This process too is beautiful to behold and will unfold according to its own innate and perfect timing. The CHANGING COLORS are beautiful, and remind me of the miracles at work continuously within me. 
Eileen Patra 