Pray Without Ceasing...Audio Blog

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Lawd, Jesus, help me, a beg yuh!

That was my cry for many years – until I learned better.

Without getting into my theological evolution or my current spiritual understanding, I know that such a ‘prayer’ is useless. Calling to Jesus, God, Jehovah, Jah even Buddha or Allah in the middle of a situation is vain, arrogant and pretentious in my view.

I remember during my residency as an hospital Chaplain how mad I would get at family members who never darkened a church once since their childhood but would page the on call Chaplain to come to their family member’s bedside at 2:00 in the morning!

God on call is what some people believe they have and while I believe that a Higher Being is available to us at all times, It simply is not sitting around waiting to be ordered about!

The other thing that I know for sure about prayers – they are always answered, however, you might not like the answer! That is so amusing to me. I laugh at myself very often on this. We all have the tendency to think that we can bawl out to Jesus or whomever with a laundry list and “it shall be so!”

Hell no! What comes to us, we attract to ourselves. I can see some of you cringing from that statement but I stand by it. The trajectory of my life has proven that to me and whether you want to believe or buy into it hardly concerns me.  My DOS family will tell you that the song that I sing to them very frequently is to “accept, embrace and then change,” what comes if it no longer serves you. I also know the importance of being clear about my intentions – those things that I hold in my heart, the residence of Spirit/Source, as from it flows the issues of my life. Whether I label those issues good or bad, they are mine!

Some biblical verses flow easily from my lips. One of them is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

 

In other words, every thought, word and action is a prayer – so do take care what you are saying as that will be your life.

 

Is that you MO?

 

Share your thoughts with us.

Not Without My Children?! A Lesson In Relinquishment

Janice Chang - Guest Author

The hardest thing I have ever done in my life, to date, was to leave my children in the care of their father when we separated.  

I needed to re-form my life. 

Over the 16 years of my marriage, I had let go of my dreams. I had arrived at the cranny of the corner into which I had painted myself. It was time to jump or asphyxiate.

It all started with a deep-seated unhappiness with my life. I had a great career in medicine, two healthy and happy children and a burgeoning spirituality. Ironically, it was that, my spiritually that exposed a deep “soul-poverty” that could not be denied.  

Like so many women, I had “settled” and the yearning in my spirit was becoming difficult to ignore.  Despite my white-picket fence life, daily the gnawing feeling intensified that I was doing nothing of value and that my life was increasingly aimless.  Ostensibly, I was “letting God lead.” That was my misguided impression that I was doing nothing but following God’s command.

Credit: Boylan Imaging

Discipleship, as I was beginning to understand it, means “if anyone would follow me [God/Christ/Spirit/Source], let them leave their spouse, their children, their lives… .” 

I needed to love the will of God more than my family but could I?  

The plug was being pulled in the calm peaceful soaking tub of my life and the warm water (and I) were swirling downward in a powerful vortex – down, down…

So like Abraham in the Bible, I was being asked to give up that “precious thing” that occupied my all, the greatest love of my life, my all-consuming passion – my children Jer and Nads.  If I wanted to fully know God, I had now been brought to that point where I had to relinquish them.

Source: Facebook

It is my belief, that God/Christ/Spirit/Source will allow nothing – NO THING – to come between me and Him.  My whole future rested on the decision I would make.

So I left them in the care of their father.

With no clue as to where I was going, when or how, it was irrational to think I could take them on this journey.  It was not a gracious relinquishment.  It was most definitely not a sweet and holy “Oh Lord, I hand them over to you!"

My son was depressed and many times he brought me to tears as we tried to resolve his issues with the new situation.  My daughter harbored harsh feelings towards me, believing I had abandoned her.  It was hard!  

I cried every day.  Valiantly, I tried to remain relevant in their lives but was dying inside! As the pain mounted and built to a crescendo, I relinquished them but it was not pleasant or elegant. Instead, I shoved them into God’s hands and care with a “Heh! See dem yah! Mi cyan dweet nuh more.” [TRANSLATION: Here! See them here! I cannot do this anymore].

So began the re-formation of my relationship with my children. I got them back, my “precious thing”, my children but my relationship with them was forever changed.  I love them with all my heart but that love has changed as well. I do not feel that I “own” them or that ensuring their happiness is my function in life.  

They are now happy, well-adjusted adults with relationships and careers of their own.  They call me every day, not at my urging but because they want to.  In letting them go, I allowed God to work in and through all our lives (without me trying to play the intervening midwife). Now, I have restored to me “the years that the locusts had eaten.”

Image: rainsvoice.blogspot.com

Moral of my story, if there is one: If you love someone, you have to let them go.  If they are meant to be yours, they will come back!

Have you ever had to choose between finding yourself and releasing a family member, relationship, children or even a prized job? Share your story of relinquishment with us by posting a comment here. You can also post on our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.

Continue to have a sacred journey as you embrace your experiences of letting go.

Janice Chang is a medical doctor and lives in Michigan with her husband. 

Whatever Comes My Way

Claudette

"Whatever," she said to me, rolling her neck.

That was my daughter. She was being her obnoxious self and it was making me really angry. That was not her usual demeanor.

Quiet, soft-spoken with big doe-like eyes, my baby girl was stepping into her power and was very much testing it out on me. Truth is, it was a test for both of us. We are two strong-willed women. That was a large part of the challenge, accepting that she was no longer the long-legged little Princess Chulumba that I would have given my life to protect.

There she was, recently disembarked from a misadventure around Europe, South America and the Horn of Africa. All largely at my expense and I was pissing mad because I told her it would have been just that.

My Princess Chulumba

She is very much my child, so she proceeded to ignore my warnings. Granted, my protest was unusually short-lived as I too was on an adventure of my own. It was not long into my doubting "this great opportunity" she had to work on a cruise ship that I decided to say, "Whatever."

Less than six months after she had boarded the flight to London, England, gone through her six weeks training programme and boarded the cruise line that baby girl was calling home disillusioned. Resisting the urge to remind her how much money I had spent on her 18-month College programme, the fees for her accepting this "great opportunity," the special equipment that she required AND her airfare, I asked "So what will you come back to Canada to do?" 

"Whatever." 

Hell no! I was having none of that. Either she laid out a plan or I will. Within weeks of that conversation, I had a plan. Within a year of executing that plan, I lost everything.

"Sovereign in the mountain air
Sovereign on the ocean floor  

With me in the calm
With me in the storm
Sovereign in my greatest joy  

In my deepest cry
With me in the dark
With me at the dawn  

In your everlasting arm
All the pieces of my life  

From beginning to the end
I can trust you  

In your never failing love
You work everything for good
God whatever comes my way
I will trust you  

In your everlasting arms
All the pieces of my life
From beginning to the end
I can trust you  

All my hopes
All I need
Held in your hands  

All my life
All of me
Held in your hands  

All my fears
All my dreams
God whatever comes my way
I will trust you" 

The words of that glorious song by Chris Tomlin describes my journey since November 2011. Learning from one of my greatest teachers, my daughter, "Whatever," now freely flows from my lips.

Today should have been the day I fly back to Canada. Last night before turning off the light in the beauty-filled bedroom with the luxurious king-sized bed that I have had the pleasure to rest in each night for four months now, I opened one of my guides to spiritual living, the Science of Mind monthly magazine.

Image: scienceofmind.com

I had forgotten to read it during what was an extremely hectic day. Much was on my mind not least of which was whether I had done the right thing cancelling my flight a couple days ago. My love interest and I were also contemplating who should visit with whom in the next little while. Should he fly to Jamaica or Canada (God alone knows where I will be) or should I take the transatlantic trip?

The affirmation for the day read simply: "Whatever is best."

A tear rolled down my cheek and kissed my lips. I licked the salty reminder that The Divine still knows how to create. I rolled over, turned out the light with a smile and said, "Whatever," seeing my daughter's big eyes smiling back at me.

Are you experiencing a moment of uncertainty as to what next? Are you busy trying to arrange whatever pieces comes your way? Drop me a line here or on our Facebook page and let us affirm the truth together. You can also follow us on Twitter.

Continue to have an awe-filled day as you embrace whatever comes. Namaste

Other Photo Source: talesfromthelou.wordpress.com


Claudette Esterine is the Founder of Daughters of Sheba Foundation and Editor of our blog. She is a Jamaican-Canadian and a Free Spirit. 

By The Grace Of God...

How many times have you heard someone say, "By the Grace of God go I," or you said it pondering your situation?

I used to say it quite frequently when I was working at a women's prison in Canada. It would come to my lips as well later when I transferred to a men's facility.

By now it is obvious that story telling is my thing. Love to hear others' journeys and freely share my own if I feel it will help even one. So unlike some, I would sit on a pod for hours, this is is where four to five inmates lived on the maximum security unit, and listened to their stories. Story after story, I would be nodding and whispering "by the Grace of God go I."

It could easily have been me incarcerated on one of those pods. You could have been the one hearing my story of how I stabbed the last man who put his hand in my panties at 12 years old. Twenty-five to life they would have given me had I followed a popular saying by Jamaican women.

When pushed to the limit, I have heard on numerous occasions my mother or other aggrieved women saying, "I will t'row hat oil inna him ears!" (Message me for translation - lol) How many times I have thought to do just that after being slapped, pinched and beaten by a former husband. By the Grace of God I restrained myself.

Flat broke, sleeping on a half blown up mattress on the floor with one tin of sardines and half pound of flour in the cupboard for food, wondering whether I could make it through this time. Then, by the Grace of God, a few thousand dollars was transferred to my account from an agency that I thought would not pay me.

What is this "Grace?" Believers are of the opinion that "Grace" is God's favor to undeserving sinners and/or is a special blessing. Personally, my appreciation of grace has evolved from that elementary understanding.

Grace is available, freely flowing to all of us. Believers and nonbelievers of any or all religious or spiritual paths.

Grace is Love. Grace is the natural order of Life.

We fall out of Grace or out of sync with this natural flow of life through our thoughts and actions that say we are undeserving of our greatest good. We were spoon fed these thoughts and notions and/or kept repeating them to ourselves, consciously or unconsciously, to the point that they have blocked our aligning with Life.

Take my experience of being broke mentioned earlier. For all my childhood years, my mother fed me a diet of poverty, unworthiness, envy of others and all thoughts associated with such notions. As I have written in another post, to me our life was okay. However, hearing how bad things were and how much it was due to me often enough, it sunk in.

No matter how successful I was, it was never enough. The race against poverty and the Joneses was a long and challenging one. It took rock bottom for me to finally start cleaning up and throwing out those tapes.

Aligning myself with Life/Source/God without any particular religious path has seen Grace being a constant presence in my life.

"Grace is Authenticity - 'If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.' ~ Jesus according to the gospel of Thomas. Grace is when you authentically acknowledge your feelings and thoughts. Grace welcomes all feelings and, paradoxically, liberates you from the impulse to act on feelings that serve anything less that the highest good." Art of Grace 

"By the Grace of God go I." In Grace, we all live move and have our beings. Once we awaken to this - this free-flowing 'blessing', the Order of Life - our life experiences are nothing short of what we tend to call "miracles."

Do have the most Grace-filled day! Connect with me anytime here, on Facebook, Twitter or through our BBM Channel: C004D8ABD

Blessings!

Photo Source: zengardener.com