Volume 12, Issue 4 | April 2023

Hi!

Back in the month of February an email came across my desk about a New Thought musical festival taking place during the week of my birthday in June. It got me thinking that I have few people that I’m close to with whom to celebrate my birthday so why not take a meaningful vacation trip… I felt like celebrating, not just my birthday, but the financial prosperity I’ve enjoyed in the past several years, the health with which I am blessed, and more. I wanted to celebrate Life returning after the (hopefully) worse waves of COVID had passed and the world was opening up more and more.

While I’ve traveled solo many times, I wasn’t up for that, but the floodgates opened with numerous ideas. I wanted a meaningful time, ideally, traveling with others, holding a similar spiritual philosophy, and relaxing near azure waters. The time away from my work project and earned income needed to be about a week.

I’m not on Facebook much, but I “happened” to be on it one day in March and I “happened” to see the post of a 20-year acquaintance with whom I’ve traveled in some of the same spiritual circles in the Phoenix area. Her post announced her next sacred spiritual tour: an intimate women’s retreat to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico including trips to the Mayan pyramids. When I lived in the Big Apple many of my vacations were in the Caribbean but I’d never been to the Mexican Caribbean and longed to be near the water. There would be sacred singing and sacred ceremony. Cerise Patron leads magical tours to sacred lands, is a mother, is studying to be a New Thought minister, and is a songwriter and phenomenal, soulful singer. Michele Whittington is an ordained New Thought minister and founder of Unleash Your Life. The perfect vacation and birthday celebration—what more could I ask for?! Well, the trip length was too long. I started my research for a shorter trip; nothing even came close to what this trip offered.

So at Spirit’s prompting, I asked Cerise if she knew of any trip that came even a little bit close to hers. She had a wonderful suggestion: an abbreviated itinerary that would work perfectly for all concerned! Thank You, Spirit!

In preparation for the trip, we recently had a Zoom meeting to meet one another. It was mentioned numerous times that each of us would not return home the same, that this would be a transformational journey. That works for me! It was also noted that Cerise always takes care of everything and everyone on her tours, that she will be the mother on the tour; I said, “Sign me up—I could use one!”

I got to thinking that I will be with a small group of spiritual women for a week, sharing and experiencing a trip of a lifetime, getting to know one another authentically. The tour includes everything: accommodations, meals, transportation, entrance fees, etc. and Cerise is there as well as Michele, two beings full of light and love. It has not been a frequent experience of mine to be taken care of, and that makes this trip even more meaningful and special.

While I’ve walked through a lot of my life alone without many people beside me for any great length of time, for the past 33 years (since I’ve been on a conscious spiritual path), I know that Spirit has always been with me and taken care of me even if there weren’t people around who did. During this trip I will luxuriate being in the care of humans and Spirit.

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Spirit is everywhere, everywhen. As Denise Rosier sings, Spirit is in This Place.

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Blessings,

Inspiration and Contemplation

God is Everywhere and is Within Us

“In God’s Care*—Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery” has been my favorite 12 Step daily reading book for more than three decades. I thought it synchronistic that it was published just about one year after I entered the program and still needed to strengthen my belief in Spirit. I like it so much because it is very much focused on Spirit and not on a particular addiction, for having a conscious relationship with a Higher Power is key to recovering one’s wholeness.

*God as We Understand God

The excerpt below from the April 19 reading reminds me that we are in Spirit’s care always.

“To think you are separate from God is to remain separate from your own being.”

— D. M. Street

God has taken up residence within us as our guide and in the world as our companion. Everywhere we cast our gaze, we will see other homes of God. We are never really separated from God even though we often feel disconnected.

…God is everywhere and is within us… we are comforted by the knowledge that we travel no path alone.

Our constant companion knows us fully, hears our every need, cares for us deeply, and will ensure our safety every step of the way. We only need to remember to extend our hand to God for surefootedness.

Spirituality

Never Walking Alone

There is no “other” to serve! When you serve “other” you are actually serving yourself because all beings are an individualized expression of the only life that there is: God.

This understanding is expressed in the Mayan and Native American prayers that refer to all beings, animals, bodies of water and their inhabitants, and plants as being “relatives.”

When you align yourself with this One Life that is running the cosmos, you realize that you are never walking alone; you are moving through your life in league with the Infinite.

—"40 Day Mind Fast Soul Feast," excerpt from Day 40, by Michael Bernard Beckwith

People Making a Difference

Spirit’s Presence Across the Globe

This article is about a story that starts with members of a family making a difference in others' lives by being of service. And, it's Christmas love story. Yes, I do know today is April 30, not December 25! I’m sharing it with you because it is also a story about Spirit being everywhere and everywhen.

In 2000, with millions of shoeboxes each filled with school supplies, toiletries, and small toys sent to 130+ countries since the launch of Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan’s Purse, a young boy in Idaho sent a shoebox to a young girl in the Philippines. That action would change their lives forever—but not for about 10 more years! “It couldn’t have been by chance that she found me, only through God,” said Tyrel Wolfe in an interview.

People Magazine published the story in 2014 and Lifetime broadcasted the movie The Christmas Gift in 2015 whose plot was similar to the true life story of Tyrel Wolfe and Joana Marchan. I watched that movie just this past Christmas and it led me to do some digging, learning about Tyrel and Joana’s love story and the role Spirit played in it.

You never know what will transpire when doing volunteer work, and of course, when Spirit is involved!

I trust spring weather has made it to your neck of the woods and that you are enjoying all that it offers.

Until next time...

Blessings to you and all beings in this Oneness,

Joyce S. Kaye, MSW

928.301.7292

[email protected]

You, Me, and Spirit

I was a devout atheist until 33 years ago when I "came to believe" in a Power greater than myself. Thanks to hearing the novel idea (well, at least it was to me!) that one could choose their own concept of God—and name too (Spirit, The Great Mystery, All That Is, etc.)—and the workings of synchronicity, I embarked on a new way of thinking, a new way of living, a new way of being in the world and with others. It impacted all aspects of my life and relationships.

Since that time of commencing my conscious spiritual journey, I have endeavored to remember The Presence in all that is, all whom I meet, and all that I do—including working with clients in my own business, academia, and the corporate world. I strive to be of service and to nurture the human spirit in all environments.