Peace and Blessings.

Wow, I have to think hard to find an answer to this one. I am unemployed and trying to get out of a home where I'm no longer wanted. Jobless and homeless. What do I love most about my life right now?

I love my family most. Family is a great source of support for me right now.

Years ago I could have answered this question much more quickly. Time. I used to really be protective of my time. I was very selective about how I spent my time--what I did and who I shared it with.

Since then, I've learned that time is all we have and there is no limited supply. I am much more liberal with my time now and realize that by sharing it with others in a more altruistic way brings me much joy.

So back to the question, "What do I have the hardest time giving?" Regrettably I think the answer today would be money. I am still learning that God is my source and there is more than enough to go around. I was raised to believe that I and I alone could control my future financially. I watched my folks struggle to make ends meet. I am working to release the notion that I must work an 8-5 job for years and years in order to support myself. I understand and believe (in my head though. It's still making it's way to my heart) that God does provide all and I don't need to struggle. I'm kidding myself to believe that I am in control.

I'd really like to celebrate a dream come true. I'd like to celebrate that I don't have to work at an 8-5 job and I am finally free to travel and sell my photographs. I'd like to not wait to celebrate this dream come true.

I find it everywhere. The problem is for me to slow down and notice it.

It's all about perspective and attitude. If you see the glass half full and are an optimist then your perspective is likely to be much more favorable. Additionally, if you want something to happen or change in your life, I've learned it's best to stay in the "zone"--the happy zone. Stay positive and happy and don't focus on the negative. Finally, I have a good friend who tells me EVERYTHING is a blessing. If we take that attitude then life really begins to shape up.

So what's going right in my life right now? Everything. All I have to do is review my gratitude journal and I find lots of things to not only be thankful for and about but to appreciate. I have family and friends who love me, I have all the comforts a home can bring, I have income. Essentially I experience god qualities everyday: abundance, wisdom, intelligence, wisdom, joy, happiness, beauty and most of all love.

This is such a good question. Thank you for the prompt. It reminds me that I do not REGULARLY take time to reflect on my day. Sometimes I do...somedays (most days) I don't.

From this day forward, I will take time to reflect on my day more regularly, each and every evening.

I was born and raised in the Catholic faith. I received sacraments and attended catechism all through high school. Roughly five years ago I walked into a Church of Religious Science (now referred to as Center for Spiritual Living). I didn't know it then but that single act would change my life forever.

As a Catholic I believed that God existed outside of myself. I learned many prayers and each one of them was supplication to a God somewhere "out there." As a Religious Scientist I've learned and witnessed that God is within me. When I feel weak; when I feel I need strength, I turn to the God within me--that still small voice that has always existed within me.

I normally write my response immediately. I prefer the answer that comes without a lot of thought to it. I figure the first thought more accurately represents what I truly think and/or believe.

This time...well...I don't know if it's a mood I'm in right now or if I really am stumped by this question. An answer just didn't come to me. I figured I could sit on this awhile...but that's not what I did. Instead, I took a look at some of the answers from others to see if there was anything that made sense to me. 

Without doing all of the math, it appears that many who responded to this question do believe there is value in suffering:
 

"...there is a lesson in any kind of suffering."
"...With every loss there's a  potential for gain."
"I think there is a lesson in any kind of suffering."
"Without suffering there cannot be a complete understanding of joy."

I didn't have to read too many of these to know that I do not believe there is value in suffering. There are a lot of people in this world who suffer daily. The level of pain that one considers suffering varies from one individual to the next. Therefore, to even speak of suffering in such broad terms does seem a bit odd.

I believe each and everyday we all create our personal heaven and or hell. It's a choice. So if we have a choice, why would anyone choose hell, pain and or suffering. In that regard, I'm inclined to agree with Zephr. If we can do anything to prevent pain we should. And what better way to prevent suffering than with love. I also agree with boogie, "pain and suffering just hurts."

I hope tomorrow, we can go back to those questions that I don't have to ponder so much.

That depends on so many other conditions. Organized religion is so vastly different from spirituality. I prefer to remain a spiritual person and not focus too much on the organized religion. I like a religion that is tolerant of different races, different ages, different sexualities, different everything. That can be difficult to find. There are religions out there that say it's ok to be old or black or white or brown or even just ugly as long as you don't practice divorce or homosexuality or ...

To answer this question I think if I had to pick another religion, I'd become an atheist or a non-practicing anything else.

The last thing I learned to do is play Texas Hold-em. I had so much fun learning this card game. I wanted to be able to go to my son's home and play a game of cards with him so while I was at my daughter and son-in-law's over the Christmas Holiday we practiced. At first, there were so many terms and signals that needed to be learned, I was afraid I'd forget. Unless I play more frequently, I probably will.

Money. Doesn't everybody?

I've actually been working on this for some time now. The thing about money is that it's just energy. It comes and it goes and some believe according to your karma, the more you give out, the more you get back.

This is vastly different from I am in total control and I must provide for myself and I have to earn money.

I'm not 100 percent there yet, but I do believe God provides (and has been providing) all that I need. I have more important things to worry about than money so I continue to see it as the energy it is.

Just one? This is kinda like if you could ask God one question what would it be. Not so easy.

I'll come back to this one.

I GOT IT! It took a couple of days but the one question I ask during meditation is, "How can I know God even better than I do now so that I am practicing the presence every moment of my life."

Who or what?? There are so many. There is so much. I have a gratitude journal that's filled with reminders of the abundance in my life. I'm thankful for a healthy, functioning body. I'm thankful for friends and family. I'm thankful for a roof over my head and food on my table. I'm thankful to have gainful employment. I'm thankful for my education. I'm thankful today is payday!

Balanced to me means I have time for others as well as time for myself. Balanced to me means I work and play. Balance to me means perfect alignment with mind, body and spirit. So right now, in this moment, my life could be more balanced if I give more to others. I've been busy taking care of me...now it's time to ask the question, "How can I serve?" Right now, in this moment, I realize I have given time and effort to mind and spirit but not so much to body. I love my body and from this moment forward I will do more to align body with mind and spirit.

Is this like asking what are you in denial about?

Nothing comes to mind.

I accept that I am made in the image and likeness of God. I accept that as such I am a co-creator in my life. I accept that the things that have happened in my past are a result of my beliefs and actions and were fully controlled by me. I accept that I continue to use my beliefs and actions to shape my future. I accept responsibility for my life and live it with no regrets.

What's not to accept?

I paused for a moment and life went on.
Something we all can count upon.

I alone was standing still.
But in the pause found something real.

My heart continued beating strong.
Within the beating I heard a song.

The soul of life she sang to me
of love and beauty and endless seas.

I felt her breath upon my face.
And then I felt her warm embrace.

The moment passed and soon was gone.
But the song she sings goes on and on.

I fear I don't know how to answer this question.

Rather than get philosophical, I think it's best to just remember times when I have been afraid.

First, as a child, I remember experiencing fear. I feared my mother would leave me alone and I feared my stepfather would abuse me more. I simply lived with the fear (sometimes escaping my physical body momentarily), until one day I dealt with it head-on. The lesson learned from this was not to live in fear for so long. I have control.

Next, as a parent, I remember fearing (or maybe worrying) about my children's health and well-being. One day I learned to let fear go because I realized I had no control. If my life and my children's are all a part of God's plan then who am I to question God and try to change His plan? I prayed for peace.

More recently, I spoke with a practitioner at church about my employment situation. I am appying for positions across the U.S., I have had a number of interviews but nothing seems to pan out. This time, I was unaware of fear. Fear was holding me back and I didn't even realize it. I've meditated and prayed to understand this new fear. I've come to understand it as fear of the unknown and fear of success. Now that I recognize fear for what it is, I remember that I am divinely guided. Fear only holds me back from achieving my dreams which are a part of God's plan for me. I embrace the unknown and wait; watching for the next opportunity to grow.

What an odd question. On Inauguration Day this is the question we get?

Can you create something beautiful just by looking what? by looking at it? by looking for it? by looking to create? What does that mean, "just by looking?"

And what's the deal with beautiful. That's so subjective. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. What's beautiful to me may not be so beautiful to you.

Finally, I come to "can you create." Yes, of course I can create. Everyone creates every moment of their lives. That's why we have to be careful of our thoughts and words. We are constantly creating our future with what we say and do.

Now then.
Yes, I can create something beautiful by looking through appearances to see the beauty that lies within.

And what's with the auto tags? wabi sabi?

Completely dependent? Not partially dependent. Not just dependent on a little something? Completely dependent?

Well, I guess that'd have to be when I was a child; perhaps even an infant. At that point I didn't know how to feed myself, how to walk or talk to communicate my needs. I was completely dependent on my caregivers to provide the basic necessities of life for me.

Now that I've answered that question, let's think about this a bit more. Is anyone every completely independent? Don't we all need one another in some capacity however large or small? Could you survive totally independent of any other living thing? And, if you believe you could, why would you want to?

Meditation.

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."
(recorded by Janis Joplin, written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster)

When I get to a place where I am completely in the moment,
I have no worries about the future, nor concerns about the past.
In this place of here and now I'm alive in the present moment,
and here alone I feel God's grace and know that I am free.
So freedom exists in every moment from one onto the next;
it's I who chose to wear the chains and I who choose to now be free.

I don't recall any lullabies. I do however remember my mom playing old 45s after us kids had gone to bed. I was a bit of a nightowl then (and still am) so I would lay awake in bed and listen to the music. I think I must have been five or six years old. Mom and Dad had been divorced a while and I remember mom sometimes had this one guy over. His name was Bill. When Bill wasn't coming over she would play Wedding Bell Blues by the 5th Dimension. Oh my freakin God. I can still hear the lyrics and see her walking around the living room singing. It's funny how we forget these childhood memories until a simple question suddenly brings them back to life. Thanks Gaia.

I want most to know God. I want to fell God's presence every moment of my life. I want to feel God's hand when I reach out. I want to not only know intellectually that God is always with me, but I feel God with me at all times. I want to manifest and not materialize.

Hell no. And in case you didn't here me...HELL NO.

I'm here to learn a lesson, improve my karma, share a little love and then poof, I'm back to merging with the light.

The most difficult thing about my spiritual path right now, in this moment is that I can't seem to get out of my head and listen with my heart. I try to intellectualize too much. I have reached a point where I know intellectually, but I want more to feel emotionally/spiritually. I want to have faith of a mustard seed. I want to have faith to jump off the cliff. I want blind faith. I want to feel spiritual; not just sound spiritual.

Everything in life is a blessing. Once you learn to view life as a blessing, it's much more bearable. You realize you're not alone and that the Universe is conspiring with you to create the best possible of everything.

Are those blessings sometimes in disquise? Well, it may be that sometimes we don't fully see the blessing until later. You know what it is thay say about hindsight being such a great teacher.

Everyday something happens in my life that I understand to be in divine right action. I know that moment-to-moment Spirit is guiding me. For example Mom isn't home for a visit because it's better that I attend a workshop and now I have time. The last BIG blessing in disguise that I recall was getting laid off from my job in June of last year. It hurt like hell when it happened and my ego took a serious blow. However, later I realized that I now have more time to pursue something that brings me much more joy and is valuable to others.

Don't know. I'm not clear on what my intuition is. I know when that "small voice inside of me" speaks. I recognize this as the voice of God. Is that intuition? I've heard some people say that they just felt they needed to take a different road home and then later learned that there was a 10 car pile up on their regular route. I suppose that's intuition.

It's not loud. It's not obvious. It is that "small voice inside" that guides and directs. Recently I've had that small voice tell me that I'm not growing and moving forward and I won't do so until I physically leave the house I'm living in. I'm ignoring any fears I have and listening to that "intuition."

I knew you were going ot ask me that question.