Tag Archives: Let Go

A Sabbath of the Soul

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(photo provided by: Pixabay: jillwellingtonphotography)

While considering what was “perfect” about the summers of my childhood, I recalled a consistent theme.  The summers I deemed to be perfect were timeless. There were no schedules to keep, no piles of homework, no vocabulary lists, no math, no science projects, and very few places to be.

As adults, living in a time-bound world, schedules keep us on task, tasks demand lists, and there are many places to go and be. But I wonder if, in the midst of all of this activity, we might recreate that sense of timelessness we once enjoyed as children? I think we can.

Recreating the timelessness of childhood requires just three things, a willingness to stop for just a moment and breathe, remembering that time is an illusion governed by the planet we inhabit, and letting go of all our thoughts, concerns, and lists for just a little while – even a single moment.

In this way, we command time to stand still. We shift from thinking and doing to being, and we open ourselves to the timelessness of Spirit. We remember what Moses called the Sabbath, a time of rest that, according to Jesus, was made for you and me.

Take a moment today, maybe even right now to “Remember the Sabbath” that lives right there inside of you. Take a momentary Sabbath of the Soul.

© 2019. Eileen DeRosia Patra, OUM, LUT, CSE

Eileen Patra is an ordained Unity minister and the author of the soon to be released book, The Mystical Ark: A Vessel of Blessings

(photo provided by: Pixabay: jillwellingtonphotography)

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

A Miracle A Day, Day 47

rock climbing.2425052047_37c19eac29_qRELEASE is the ability to let go of something or to cause something to be freed.  What a miraculous feeling it is to RELEASE a fear or thought that has held me captive.  As a new rock climbing enthusiast I can appreciate the physical ability to RELEASE one rock in order to grasp the next.  RELEASING my grip on the hold requires strength and faith.  I must build my muscles so I can reach, push and pull, but I must also trust that my partner and climbing equipment will keep me safe.  With the powers of strength and faith I let go of the rock I have held so tightly and grab the next one, climbing a little higher.   The same is true of my thoughts and fears and long-held limiting beliefs.  I must have strength and faith in the power and presence of Spirit to let go and let God.  As I RELEASE what I have held tightly; fear, judgment, pain, shame or blame, I find that the next and higher thought is right there within my grasp and I climb a little higher in mind and Spirit.  Yes, RELEASE is a miraculous quality of both the human experience and the spiritual evolution of my highest Self.

© 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.