Putting God Under An Umbrella

I recently had a discussion with a friend about the healing work that I do. She is a dear friend that lives far away, and I was sharing some of the miracles and experiences that I have seen through this healing work, helping her via phone with some areas in her own life and within her family that are giving her trouble right now. She is a devout Christian whose husband was a minister for many years, and although they are no longer in the ministry, they are still very devoted to their church.

We were discussing how positive thought is essentially Faith. When you have fears and worry, or allow negative thoughts to permeate your thinking, it is in some ways a lack of faith. I told her more about Reiki and its basis in unconditional love (God-love, as I sometimes call it), and allowing that energy to come through and heal. We also discussed The Secret, The Moses Code, and other current "law of attraction" topics and I explained how each is actually about faith...where you put your faith determines what you will get, what you create. If you put your thoughts (and therefore your faith) into believing or fearing that something negative is going to come your way, that's what you will receive - because that's where your faith is...in the negative occurence. If you let go and expect the positive, that's what you will receive instead. Letting go is a sign of surrendering to faith. Let Go and Let God is a common cliche among religious followers, yet so many of us never truly do that. We have our own ideas of how things are supposed to be and never surrender to the unknown, the road less traveled.

My friend agreed with many of these concepts but also explained that, in order to satisfy her conscience, she needed to "make it fit under her umbrella of God". I explained to her that doing so was fine and that I understood her need, as long as she could also respect that others might be under a different umbrella, and following their own conscience for what God is or is not. We should respect their similar need to find what resonates with them. That seemed a bit harder for her to grasp or agree to, perhaps because of the Christian edict to save others and lead them to Jesus.

After our conversation, I pondered the statement about making it fit under her umbrella of God, and it occurred to me that that is exactly how we so often approach God. We decide what He/She/It is, then find ways to make everything fit under our definition...things that don't fit, we simply ignore, no matter how wondrous they might be. In doing so, we are reducing God from His magnificence to a confined space under our umbrella. We are creating God in our image, then forcing Him to fit into our very defined boundaries. When we limit God to our standards, we limit so much of the wonder and so many miraculous experiences. Until we can open our hearts, our souls, our minds to all of the limitless possibilities of God, we cannot have a true and full experience with Him. In some ways, it is like failing Him.

I do know that my friend's heart is sincerely wanting to serve and experience God, and I have faith that she will look beyond the umbrella to see a bright blue sky and sunshine that is beyond its shadows...beyond the limits of a superficial shelter. From reading this, I hope that you will look beyond your own umbrella and open yourself to new possibilities. There is a whole new world out there, just waiting for each of us to lay down our self-imposed restrictions and embrace it. It reveals a rainbow of faith that tells us to put down our umbrellas and trust that the storm is over, that there are brighter and better things ahead, that we can experience more if we will only allow it.

Does Time Heal All Wounds?

The phrase, Time heals all wounds, is one that most of us have heard and accepted in our lives in some way or another. The idea that time will make the hurt go away is a comforting one, yet I don't believe that it is true. The healing work that I do which deals with physical and emotional repair would say otherwise. I have noticed that a person's physical, mental, and emotional difficulties, the things that block them being their very best, are often rooted in the tiniest of matters that may have hurt them from long ago. The suppression of these wounds, over time, causes our emotional pain, our failures, and oftentimes, our physical illness.

It seems that time buries all wounds, but it doesn' t heal them...love heals them. I am not referring to the romantic kind of love (although that can be very healing!), or even the love of friendship, which also helps us be our best. But the deepest kind of love, and the one that creates the greatest miracles, is love of ourselves...and accepting that we are loved by God exactly as we are. Once we can love ourselves, we begin to love everyone around us, we begin to look at others not for their failures, but for their beauty and their goodness. Doing so magnifies our own goodness and we are blessed from it.

Our culture has taught us that we are on some level unloveable, or that we are never quite good enough. Yet God sees us as the perfect creatures that He created us to be. Religion chastises us for being "bad", and even when we are being "good" (as in coming to church and being active), attempts to convince us that we still aren't quite worthy of God's pure love...that we need greater works and deeds to prove our worthiness....that we will never be quite good enough to be deserving of God's wonder.

It is a shame that the institution that is supposed to connect us with God so often leads us in the other direction. And yet, most of those who are teaching it have the best of intentions, but they too are disconnected to some degree. Until we realize our love from God is constant no matter where we are in life or what we do, we will continue to suppress those old wounds, those old feelings of inadequacy, and will continue to have health or emotional issues or behave in error because of it. Until we see perfection in ourselves and others, our lives will be imperfect, and those feelings will manifest in our emptiness, in our physical problems, and in our emotional obstacles. This step in reconnecting with God and remembering our goodness is the first step in healing, on any level, and it is worth the journey. Doing so will change your life and will change those around you. Seek ways to reconnect with your deeper, greater, higher self, and you will begin to see miracles all around.

Opening Your Life to Miracles

The healing power of pure love is magnificent, and I have been blessed to see so many miracles through it, for myself and those that I have been able to touch. I truly stand in awe on a regular basis! For me, this healing power came through an awakening. I had been a "spiritual seeker" for some time, reading books and practicing many principals of Spirituality, seeking and getting a closer connection to God. And although I had always followed religion and got some benefits from its practices, I knew that there was something more, so I sought to find it.

One of the great things that I was led to was the practice of the ancient healing art of Reiki (pronounced "ray-KEE"). For me, it is simply allowing God's pure love to flow through me to the recipient. This practice not only brought on profound changes in my own life, it also opened up the ability to share that loving energy to help others connect, to see miracles in their own lives. On my website (www.angelstouchtherapy.com) , I have answered many common questions about Reiki, its healing power, and the gifts it opened up in me. On this blogsite, I will share miracles that I have experienced for myself and with others and give insight into how to open yourself up to daily miracles.

Albert Einstein said, "There are two ways to live your life...One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle."

Recognizing that miracles occur all around us is one of the first steps toward gaining them in our lives in greater abundance. Each time we appreciate a miracle, we are open and prepared to receive another. And each time we see a miracle in a difficult situation (as in being grateful for something that may not be perfect or may be very tough), we are even more open to additional miracles. When I began to see the miraculous gift of my life's imperfections, rather than wishing that things had been more perfect, it changed my life (and my life was already good - it just made it that much better!). When I saw the "bad" things that had happened to me as perfect and good, I was awakened to a whole new reality, to gifts that I could never have dreamed of...to the wonder and awe of sharing them with others and helping them awaken.

The first step toward receiving a miracle is to be open to it, and to know that you deserve it. So think of a difficult thing in your life and tell yourself, "I deserve good things...I deserve miracles." Then look around and see others not as imperfect, but also as deserving of miracles. Every good feeling that you send out will come back to you in some way...and you will be on the path to miracles.