It was explained to me this way: 

When I pray, I’m asking.

When I meditate, I’m listening.

Why is asking so easy but listening is so difficult?

Dad and Mom say grace before every meal. When I was young they ingrained this consuetude by teaching me a simple rhyme:

God is good,
God is great,
Thank you for our food.
Amen

But at that age I was  very energetic and active so I wasn’t really paying attention. I didn’t connect the words and their meaning until much later in life. At age 6, I thought we were saying:

Godice good,
Godice great,
thankyouforourfoodamen.

It could easily have been…

Godiss good,
Godiss great,
thankyouforourfoodamen.

At age 6 the meaning didn’t much matter to me; I figured Mom knew; that was good enough… “Let’s eat!”

Today I search for a more meaningful grace. I believe blessing the food (and water) actually improves my health. For now it goes something like this:

Today bless the food I eat and water I drink with love, light and good health; carry these energies to every part of my body. Thank you.

What works for you?

Word o’ the Day:  Consuetude - ritual or routine

When I was growing up, my family would always pause before a meal to offer thanks and ask for blessings on the food. Our bodies are 70% water, so isn’t it interesting that we don’t follow a similar routine with water? I wonder how much healing we would bring to ourselves if we simply offered “love and gratitude,” or asked for blessings on every glass of water we drink.

…the energy of emotion–when it’s felt and generated from within–creates a coherent resonant electromagnetic field between the heart and the brain that’s much greater than that generated by the brain itself. Feeling may, therefore, be one of the major keys to manifesting prayer.

The Seven Secrets of Sound Healing by Johathan Goldman.

I pray for selfish things.

• When I was 9 years old, after the preacher delivered a guilt-ridden sermon, I prayed: “Dear God, please forgive my sins so I can go to heaven.
• ”In my twenties when I doubted His existence: “God, if you really exist, send me a sign. Seriously, if you want me to believe in you, let the next person I see be a bald man (or something silly like that).”
• When my son was 5 months old, in the hospital and near death: “God, why won’t you PLEASE heal my son? He doesn’t deserve this. PLEASE take this illness away from him!!”
• At the lake when I really wanted to water ski: “I hate this wind. God, please make the wind stop.”
• In my thirties: “I’m late for work and need to leave now! God, please help me find my keys!”

Truth is, I am a self-absorbed supplicator.

As a child I was told that communication with God was done through prayer, but the style of prayer I was taught was not communicating. It was one-way — me asking God for something I wanted at that moment.

Prayer is an interesting exercise. An agnostic might characterize prayer as Positive Thought, as in, “I am quite certain I am a careful driver, therefore I will drive to work safely and without accident.” A monotheist might characterize prayer as true communication with The One Deity, as in “God kept me from being in an accident on my drive to work.”

Here is an intriguing prayer-concept that brought interesting results for me. It’s a story from my brother:

In the mornings while showering, my brother’s normal routine was to pray the “old way” — many supplications and requests (Supplication Style):

God, bring me the next job.
Please give me more money.
Let my children be safe.
Etc…

One particular morning a new idea of expanding consciousness struck him. He changed his routine and rephrased every thought that came to him, turning that thought into an expression of gratitude (Gratitude Method):

Thank you for the job I will get today.
Thank you for the money I have.
Thank you for the safe keeping of my children.
..and so forth…

The result of this experiment was remarkable. The days when he prayed Supplication Style turned out to be more stressful, less happy and less fulfilling. But the days he used the Gratitude Method went more smoothly, with less anxiety and more happiness.

The Gratitude Method is becoming a more common style for me and the results are remarkable, bringing me greater and greater happiness.

My life is more abundant.

I am physically healthier.

I am achieving greater things professionally and personally.

My relationships with friends, coworkers and family are deeper and more fulfilling.

No matter what your religious beliefs, here is my “prayer challenge” for you:

(1) Choose an outcome.
(2) Believe it to be.
(3) Take action. (This is essential!)
(4) Offer gratitude – as if your choice has already begun to manifest. (Most important.)

Tell me how it works for you

Inquisitively,
David Wine

Last night I walked through the house, turning off lights as I was heading for bed. In my mind, I prayed a quick prayer asking for blessings and peace to continue filling our home. A moment after the prayer, I happened to glance at the digital clock in the kitchen.

It read 11:11.

At first, I didn’t think much about it, but a few seconds later it hit me. This same thing has already happened to me — three times!

Déjà vu.

I’ve seen a pair of elevens three times in the past couple weeks.

I prayed; I saw 11:11 for the third time; and I’ve read that eleven is a power number.

I wonder what the angels are telling me.

A few angels appear above you. They’re giggling as they bring a shiny hose from heaven. They float down to your skull and then slowly hover down into your body. They open the nozzle at the end of the hose and begin spraying a warm, refreshing, sparkling water-like fluid. The angels spray this refreshing fluid on the inside of the shell of your body, washing away all of the goop, which drains out your fingers and toes. The tiny angels make their way methodically through the inside of your entire body, slowly rinsing away all the yuck.

When all of the gray goo is washed away, some of the tiny angels take the hose and float up and away from your body. The angels stationed at your fingers and toes replace the tips of your digits. Now there are more angels bringing a second hose from above you. They open a valve and warm, golden fluid flows into your body. This golden fluid feels so relaxing and peaceful as it slowly fills your body starting at the toes and fingers, and then moving up your legs … then your torso … and your arms, your neck … and finally your head.

When you are completely filled with the golden fluid, the angels replace “the lid” on the top of the head. You notice they have started singing a song more beautiful than you have ever heard. Their words are in a language you don’t understand but the harmony is a wonderful sound. It seems like the song is some sort of blessing on you, and as the tiny angels slowly disappear into the distance, you realize the song really was for you. They were wishing you peace and wellness.

At this point you should be so completely relaxed that your body and arms feel as if they are part of the chair. (When I first experienced this sensation, I was surprised. It was so relaxing.) In this physical and mental state, you are ready to begin a meditation. You can take your mind wherever you want to go, simply choose to take it there. Imagine you are in your favorite place — a quiet, but energizing place in the forest, or the solitude of an ocean beach, or on top of a distant mountain — the place where you feel most relaxed.

Once your mind is there, stop and wait.

Simply wait.

Keep your mind very still; think of nothing — only wait. It may be a minute or two, or maybe a long while. Keep your mind in this special place and the information you are meant to receive will come to you. Stay with it as long as you wish.

———————-

This is a basic meditation technique.

Sometimes, in the peacefulness, I mentally focus on a point of perception at the frontal lobe of my brain. Then I slowly “move” that point of focus to the sounds I am hearing in my ears. Then I continue to shift the focal point down through my neck to the center of my chest (heart chakra).

Now I focus on “listening with my heart” to whatever the Universe sends me. If I find my mind wandering to events of the day or worries about children or hassles from work, I take a deep breath and “move my focus” again from the frontal lobe, continuing down to the ears, neck and then to the heart.

I think this is what King David meant when he told his son Solomon that God talks to you from your heart. If you want to hear what He is saying, listen with your heart, not your ears.

Wishing you peace,
David Wine

I learned this when I was in college. It’s a great way to relax or meditate.

Find a comfortable chair and sit upright in a relaxed position, uncross your legs, place your feet flat on the floor, and let your arms rest on the arms of the chair or in your lap.

Take a slow, deep breath. Then another, allowing your eyelids to close.

Take a couple more slow breaths and imagine a couple dozen tiny angels coming from everywhere around you. They all have a warm, comforting glow. A few of the angels float over to your left hand and begin to pull at the tip of your pinkie finger. In your imagination, the tip of the finger becomes like a cork that they slowly pull away from the tip of your finger. An awful looking, gray fluid begins oozing out of your finger. The angels smile and giggle as they begin removing the cork-like tip of the next finger.

Slowly, the angels move to the middle finger. [Take a deep breath.] Then it’s to the first finger. Pause. Now the thumb. After each cork tip is removed, the ugly, gray substance oozes out and you can feel all negativity and darkness flowing out of your body through the fingers on your left hand.

Take your time. There is no reason to hurry.

Imagine now that the tiny angels are removing the cork-like tip of the pinkie finger on your right hand. Allow them to spend a bit of time on each finger. Notice that they are happy and smiling; sometimes laughing and giggling, always in a state of love. They move to the ring finger, removing the tip. You notice that the gross fluid is flowing from these two fingers. You also notice your emotions are turning more peaceful. Now it’s the middle finger, and now the first finger—and finally the thumb. Choose to take your time, moving your mind’s eye leisurely from one finger to the next.

Some of the other angels have grouped themselves at your feet and they begin to remove the tips of the toes of your left foot, beginning with the small toe of one foot and slowly moving to each separate toe. Then one by one, they remove the tips of the toes of your right foot. The disgusting fluid continues oozing its way out of your body and you begin to feel more relaxed.

Take a deep breath.

Now imagine that the top of your head is like the lid of a cookie jar. Another set of angels has moved to the top of your skull and has opened “the lid” from your head. Now the nasty fluid flows from your fingers and toes at a quickened pace. After a short time your body is only a shell.

[continued tomorrow]