Rituals of Remembering
I'm a huge fan of Paul Ferrini's writings and I really like what he has to say about the following:
Rituals of Remembering
I do not ask you to meditate or pray for an hour a day, although there is nothing wrong with this. I simply ask you to remember your Divine Essence for five minutes out of each hour, or for one thought out of every ten. Nine thoughts may be about needing to fix yourself or someone else, but let the tenth thought be about something which is totally acceptable, totally loveable.
This is the rhythm the Sabbath was meant to establish. For six days you could be absorbed in the drama of work and struggle, but on the seventh day you were to remember God. The seventh day was to be a day of rest, of turning inward.
Let the wisdom of the Sabbath be brought into your daily life. Then, when you eat, God will sit at your table. When you speak with your brother, you will remember to say something encouraging to him.
The Sabbath is a ritual of remembering. When you realize this, you can discard the outer shell and find a form of the ritual that help you remember.
A Helpful Practice
Any place and any time in the course of your daily life, you can be doing spiritual practice. Whenever you find yourself getting confused, anxious, fearful, angry, etc. ask yourself "Am I loving myself right now?" This question helps you understand that beneath all fearful thoughts and behaviors lies the refusal to be gentle and loving toward yourself.
Even if your anger or upset feelings are directed toward someone else, you aren't being loving toward yourself. Indeed, the only way that you can be angry at anyone else is to forget to love yourself.
The question "Am I loving myself right now?" reminds you of your only responsibility while here in this embodiment: to love and take care of yourself. When love is established in your heart, it flows automatically to others.
This is anything but a selfish practice. It is a practice that takes you back to your heart, where love originates.
Sending Loving Kindness to all of you!
Rituals of Remembering
I do not ask you to meditate or pray for an hour a day, although there is nothing wrong with this. I simply ask you to remember your Divine Essence for five minutes out of each hour, or for one thought out of every ten. Nine thoughts may be about needing to fix yourself or someone else, but let the tenth thought be about something which is totally acceptable, totally loveable.
This is the rhythm the Sabbath was meant to establish. For six days you could be absorbed in the drama of work and struggle, but on the seventh day you were to remember God. The seventh day was to be a day of rest, of turning inward.
Let the wisdom of the Sabbath be brought into your daily life. Then, when you eat, God will sit at your table. When you speak with your brother, you will remember to say something encouraging to him.
The Sabbath is a ritual of remembering. When you realize this, you can discard the outer shell and find a form of the ritual that help you remember.
A Helpful Practice
Any place and any time in the course of your daily life, you can be doing spiritual practice. Whenever you find yourself getting confused, anxious, fearful, angry, etc. ask yourself "Am I loving myself right now?" This question helps you understand that beneath all fearful thoughts and behaviors lies the refusal to be gentle and loving toward yourself.
Even if your anger or upset feelings are directed toward someone else, you aren't being loving toward yourself. Indeed, the only way that you can be angry at anyone else is to forget to love yourself.
The question "Am I loving myself right now?" reminds you of your only responsibility while here in this embodiment: to love and take care of yourself. When love is established in your heart, it flows automatically to others.
This is anything but a selfish practice. It is a practice that takes you back to your heart, where love originates.
Sending Loving Kindness to all of you!
Replies
Thus is a good reminder lesson about focus and awareness, IMO. It is a ritual to build that will help me to continue to improve.
\"Am I hurting myself or hurting myself right now?\" It is the redirection of my thoughts of any \"thing\" outside that I can blame for my feelings as though I am a victim. It reminds me to \"choose differently\" than I am.
I\'m feeling love and acceptance are closely related.
Thanks for sharing,
Rich
Thanks, Vicki.
xx
SuzA
This is so what I needed to read right now Vicki.....it\'s wonderful, thank you for sharing xxx
Thanks Vicki. Sometimes I am more in touch with all this than others but I do still keep trying.