Tag Archives: Divine Love

The Wonder of You!

As the celebration of Christmas grows near, so too do the signs of the Wonder of Christmas; lights, nativity scenes, shopping and wrapping of special gifts, trimming of trees, and the look of wonder in the eyes of children. It is, as the song suggests, “the most wonderful time of the year.” Until it isn’t.

A day meant to fill our hearts with joy, and hope often gets lost in the stress of meeting expectations, our own and those of the world around us. For some, the day itself may be associated with painful memories or the loss of loved ones. “Where is the wonder?” Your heart may ask.

The Wonder can still be found. It lies in a deeper and richer understanding of the nativity story itself, one that goes beyond the words transcribed on the page. Historians and Bible scholars debate the facts and authenticity of the story. Dates and times do not align with the scarce bits of recorded history from the time. The story seems to be purposeful in connecting Jesus to the lineage of the House of David, which causes some to speculate its intention. But the Wonder is not to be found in aligning historical facts or scriptural prophecies. It is found in the deeper meaning of a story rich with symbolism.

Jesus taught through parables, stories that symbolized elements of the human experience, its challenges, endeavors, and divine potential. His followers would have done the same. They would have incorporated this compelling, symbolic story-telling into their work and embedded it in the most magnificent parable of all, the birth, life, and death of their Master and Way-shower, Jesus.

What then, are the characters and elements of the nativity story trying to tell us? Could each of them be an aspect of our own consciousness giving birth to an expression of God? Could they represent a recognition of ourselves as both fully human and fully divine? Could they describe the seeking of something greater, of hope and faith and joy, found not in a stable but in a humble place within the human heart?

Most of this spectacular story is found in the Gospel of Luke. But an additional, wonder-filled story is relayed in the second chapter of Matthew, where we find wise ones from the east following a star to an unknown place in the west. A songwriter calls it the Star of Wonder. And no doubt it was a wonder.

Imagine what kind of star or sign would cause you to embark on a lengthy and dangerous journey wrought with spitting camels, narrow mountain passages, desert storms, thieves, and a dubious, deceitful king. It would have to be a great sign, a wonder on par with perhaps the Seven Wonders of the World. Bigger than life. Awe-inspiring. Overwhelming. Beautiful. Perhaps an inkling of something wonderful being born, leading you to a place of perfect peace, hope, and wholeness.

This awe-inspiring light, one that would encourage you to traverse all obstacles to discover its source lies within you. The star represents a glimmer of light, an inspiring thought that stimulates the wise ones, the Power of Wisdom within you that sometimes lies dormant. The Star of Wonder is the great light of Spiritual Understanding, offering clarity and guidance.

Where there is light, we can see what we could not see in the darkness. Our way is made clear. This Light of Understanding within you continually guides the wisdom in you through the challenges and difficulties of human life to a place where you can lay down the worldly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh in exchange for the spiritualized gifts of Infinite Abundance, Divine Love, and a recognition of the eternal nature of the Essence of Life in you and all around you.

The gifts of the wise ones represent capacities that are always within you but are spiritualized or spiritually empowered when brought under the direction of the Christ or Higher-self. These wonders within you are most accessible when you make the journey from your head to your heart, where the Christ of you is continuously born anew and awaits your return in consciousness.

The Wonder of Christmas is not lost. The Wonder is you. You, as an expression of the eternal, all-pervading Essence of Life. Now that is a Wonder that can never be lost, only hidden. Breathe in the glow of the inner star and be guided in all that you do to the peaceful place of absolute wholeness with you.

Have a Wonder-filled Christmas, and enjoy a spectacular new You.

© 2019. Rev. Eileen Patra.

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 at the Spiritual Life Center in Troy, Michigan and guest speaking at a variety of Unity churches. She is currently working on her second book, Living as the Ark. Learn more about The Mystical Ark at themysticalark.com

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Rise and Shine

Alarmclock about to wake her upWhen I was a teenager my mother had a horrific time waking me up in the morning.  She would, call, cajole, yell, push, pull, and most effectively, threaten to run a bath for me and then go downstairs to the basement. This would mean that if the tub overflowed it would be my fault.  Somehow that one did it. I would reluctantly leave my warm cozy bed and head downstairs to turn off the water.  The threat of more work and the trouble I would be in was enough to release whatever dream was holding me captive.

What if we could apply this same principle to our daily lives?  There are some who would say that our earthly experience is a dream itself, that we have fallen asleep to our greater, spiritual selves.  Our dreams are often captivating because we can change the thread of the dream at will.  If it’s a really good one we can stay in it and perhaps even choose the next scene. If it’s frightening we can turn a corner and begin a different dream or simply wake up.

If today, your awake dream is not what you choose to experience, change the scene.  You have the power to do that.  If today the awake dream of the world is frightening, let’s all wake up.  What appears to be immovable is movable through the powers of faith, divine love, wisdom and will.  These are innate powers within each of us. Aligned with the one power, one presence, one activity that animates all of life, we can move mountains, change scenes and see the Truth in one another.  But we must wake up. 

Whatever scene you choose to live today, let it be one that is guided by the harmonizing power of Divine Love. Let it be a day of wakefulness to the divine essence in all beings. Rise and Shine! The water is running and it’s up to you to direct the flow.

© 2017. Eileen DeRosia Patra

 

The Pursuit of Happiness?

pursuite of happinessThe pursuit of happiness is not fulfilled by the freedom to express hate. Hate is a derivative of fear. One hates what one deems an enemy, that which one fears will somehow hurt them or diminish them. Hate is an aspect of the “fight” response to fear.  Only when fear is acknowledged, soothed and brought into alignment with the assurance of Divine Love can there be an experience of true happiness.  All else is but a shield to assuage a perceived fear.

Fear, disguised as hate and anger is often triggered by a perceived loss. ‘Someone is taking something away from me.’ In Truth, there is no loss. All that we see, all that we experience are manifestations of Light and energy which is never lost. It simply moves and transforms.  When we finally recognize that we are inextricably connected to one another and therefor own everything, yet own nothing, will we know there is nothing to fear, nothing to lose.

When you say you are losing some piece of your culture or your history, what is it that you are losing? Are you losing the grace and beauty of the fertile grounds that fed your ancestors? Are you losing your history of charm and hospitality? Or are you losing the false illusion that those you saw as heroes are not really heroes at all.  Were they heroes because they stood for something they believed in and laid their lives on the line for it. In a sense, a very human sense, I suppose this is so. But when you expand your perspective to recognize that what they stood for was something deeply hurtful and harmful to the fabric of humanity can you see their actions as something other than heroic? Can you begin to see them as the leadership of a fear that saw masses of God’s children as less than human?  Can you see that as you hold them dearly in your clinging to a false image of grace and charm that you hold yourself in a false reality in which some of humanity is worthy of God’s love and some are not?  That some therefore are worthy of your love and some are not. Only when you let go of these false images of heroism can you begin to heal yourself.  You didn’t know you needed healing, did you?  But yes, you do. You see you too are a part of this fabric of Life.  And while you reject portions of it from your fear of what is not manifesting exactly the same way as you are, you pull at yourself, you separate the essence of your being from the whole. You cause yourself to be isolated from the outworking of God. You cause yourself to be outside of the wholeness of Divine Love. The happiness that you pursue will never bring you what you truly seek, which is to be one with that from which you come. While you reject any part of this you remain outside of it, alone, afraid, fighting and hurting. 

Could you, for just one moment, let go? Let go of your judgments. Let go of your need to cling to what is not even real. Let go of what you fear? Could you for just one moment allow Love to fill the fearful parts of yourself. Could you consider that it is fear that causes you to cling to what is not whole, what is not loving. Could you for just one moment look deeply into the eyes of those you see as different or less than, and see and feel the face of God?  Could you for one moment look deeply into those eyes and see the pain, the fear that is so much like your own? Could you look for one moment into that opening that draws you one to the other and see that you are one? Could you reach across the fence of fear and embrace the other as yourself?  For is this not what our brother and Wayshower, Jesus taught us? To love one another as ourselves?  Is this not the teaching of other faith traditions and spiritual philosophies as well? You do not have to be Christian to understand that it is Love that brings us together and Hatred and Fear that pull us apart.  For just one moment, open your eyes wider than they have ever been open before. Reach out and embrace the other whoever that might be for you.  You will open in you a flood of Divine Love that brings you a greater experience of happiness than you have ever imagined. And this, no one can ever take from you. Namaste’

© 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.

Gratitude: A Magnet for Good

gratitude-dreamstimefree_138084GRATITUDE is the miraculous awareness that one is surrounded and supported by Divine Love; that a need or desire has been anticipated and met. GRATITUDE is a universal feeling, a miraculous state of being with the power to open our entire being to a receptive state of consciousness. When we are in GRATITUDE we are in alignment with our higher self and with the Source of our being.  GRATITUDE and miracles are synonymous, for it is GRATITUDE that opens the door to the experience of all that is miraculous. As I look for miracles in everyday life, I find that I look for those things I feel most grateful for.  GRATITUDE is a feeling, an energy, a vibration and a portal to the miraculous.  As I recognize and appreciate the many gifts of life my awareness expands, and my eyes are open to even more.  GRATITUDE has the capacity to open the heart, relax tightened muscles and release feelings of fear, anger and separation.  One cannot be grateful and angry simultaneously.  One cannot be grateful and fearful at once.  GRATITUDE is the recognition of God-ness in expression as miracles, large and small, dancing in the rhythm of Life.

© 2016. Reverend Eileen DeRosia Patra

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

A Positive Side of Fear?

fear-cc-2406378075_568feb9133_q-jpgFEAR is not usually considered a miracle.  Yet, FEAR has two very different sides or characteristics.  There is the FEAR generated by the ego and fueled by outer conditions, past experiences and the collective stream of FEAR consciousness. This FEAR is destructive, immobilizing and is a very long way from what one might consider a miracle.  But there is another side to FEAR.  FEAR in its intended expression is the voice of inner guidance, intuition.  It is a higher awareness calling out and keeping us from walking into the path of an approaching train or speeding vehicle.  This FEAR moves us gently out of harm’s way and reminds us to seek inner guidance.  It reminds us that we are never alone and that peace and harmony are just one thought, one dimension away.  This FEAR reminds us to close our eyes to appearances, close our ears to resounding gongs and clanging symbols, and seek the shelter of Divine Love where wisdom speaks with clarity, harmony and oneness.

© 2016. Reverend Eileen DeRosia Patra

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

A Miracle A Day, Day 96

bridge.dreamstimefree_216398BRIDGES are a miracle of human ingenuity.  A bridge allows passage across great expanses of water or great chasms in the earth.  BRIDGES are wonderful feats of engineering, and they are replicas of BRIDGES within us.  Our brains create BRIDGES, or neural pathways, connecting various neurons, and increasing our capacity to acquire, store and take new action on new information. There is a mighty but invisible BRIDGE from head to heart that connects the Power of Divine Love with the thinking and feeling natures, creating greater balance and healthier, more compassionate choices in our lives.  And then, there is an innate BRIDGE, seldom fully traversed, that provides a pathway from the personal consciousness to the higher or Christ consciousness.  Stepping across this BRIDGE, we bring the personal consciousness under the direction of the Christ Mind and we are transformed. 

© 2016. Reverend Eileen DeRosia Patra

Rev. Eileen is an ordained Unity minister currently serving at Unity of Livonia in Livonia, Michigan.  To view the entire Miracle A Day series, visit her Facebook page