For the last week, Caterpillars kept showing up in or outside my apartment. This conspicuous sign arrived around the time I got the sense my soul required cocooning. My word of the year had seemingly sent my system into a shocking need for inner cultivation—especially after I fell backward into old habits for comfort and consolation to my painful grief and depression.
In the past, I have had words find me — in a serendipitous manner with a lace of intuition. This year was no exception as my favorite poet and artist, Morgan Harper Nichols, created an Instagram Reel of suggested words for the year. A screenshot determined my word this year, but I am certain it was meant for me (even if it were a millisecond between my word and another.)
I was clouded with so many fearful thoughts of the future, the what-ifs and I can’ts and worry-mixed-with-doubt. It was hard to gain clarity and even find out the truth in God’s sight: what is the best decision and next-right-thing? If only I could see through the fear, I pondered; what would that feel like? A sigh of relief, a breath of fresh air, and peace? Likely all of the above.
Discernment is a tool in our spiritual arsenal – one of the Holy Spirit gifts to us. It guides us to the will of God, which is to say the best possible outcome for us.
I am saddened and heartbroken today over the acts of violence in Charlottesville. I sat with the news written on my heart looking for words that could overcome frustration and focus on love and social justice on a deep level. This is what came through when I prayed for the right words.
God calls us to love with compassion, tolerance and acceptance, so we must try to look past acts of hatred and violence to see a person that clearly learned to hate.
We are the creators of our reality: our thoughts, beliefs, actions and feelings define our experience, and it is up to us to align everything we think, say, believe and do with our desired outcomes.
God desires the very best for us, but as long as we stay trapped by our self-imposed limitations, we cannot open up to the miracles that are waiting in the limitless vastness that is God’s universe.
We are the co-conspirator of our deepest dreams: you + God = solution.
If we desire a positive outcome, we must expect a positive outcome by believing the answers to our prayers are already here.
Spiritual truth tells us that every solution we seek is already completely resolved; the only barrier that exists is us.
To get where we want to go, we must focus on how we want to FEEL.
We may not even know what we want exactly or where that direction takes us, but we do know how we want to feel, and that is something we can be certain of. It’s almost always the opposite of how we may be feeling now: unfulfilled, stuck, anxious, worried or fearful.
When we focus on how badly we are feeling or what we lack, we will ultimately attract more reasons to feel this way. The flip side of focus is fear, meaning we focus on something because we fear we don’t have it in our lives.
