Category Archives: Spirit – God – Power…

Practicing the Presence of God

joyceskaye.com Posted on by

“Nearly every day most of us experience a few small, though troubling, inconveniences. Some days we suffer through a major setback and, on occasion, even a personal tragedy. When we trust that God is in our life, and we look for comfort and guidance every moment of every day, we are prepared for any upset, whether minor or grave. “Practicing the presence of God provides us with a refuge, even in the throes of turmoil. In time, as we make this a daily routine, we’ll seldom doubt God’s closeness or feel forsaken, even when all about us is dark. The darkness will give way to the light of hope in the mere moment it takes to remember God’s presence.” – “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” April 1 *As We Understand God I couldn’t help but think about my friend, Jennifer, and her soon-to-be 19 years old son, Kelton as I was reading the above passages. Earlier in the week Kelton experienced a brain hemorrhage, and at the time of this writing, the doctors still don’t have the situation under control so that they can perform surgery. They have induced a coma so that his brain can … Continue reading →

The Spiritual Life

joyceskaye.com Posted on by

“I came to this program to save my ass and found out it was attached to my soul.”– Anonymous “God gets our attention in a lot of different ways. “And now we are learning about the spiritual aspect of our life, the one we had so long neglected. Now we are partaking of God’s love—soul food—and discovering that the spiritual life is fuller and more rewarding than anything we thought possible. Nothing we do to please our body can compare to the joy of unconditional love.” – “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” March 31 *As We Understand God God, aka Spirit, got my attention by hitting me over the head with a baseball bat in the form of food (an eating disorder). And, I do believe it was the only way Spirit was going to get this devout atheist’s attention. Nevertheless, it was not until I was in my mid-thirties that I finally found the solution to my eating disorder, not to mention my less than joyful life and relationships. Starting my conscious spiritual journey with the Twelve Steps led me to learn about and practice additional spiritual ideas and concepts, including A Course in Miracles, … Continue reading →

God Speaks to Us Through One Another

joyceskaye.com Posted on by

“Humans are social creatures; we need each other for physical and emotional support and for a healthy exchange of ideas. “Even more, we need each other for spiritual development. God loves us equally and often speaks to us through one another.” – “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” March 29 *As We Understand God Reading the above made me think of the pandemic. Two years ago, most of us were forced into total isolation due to COVID. Now, I’m used to spending a big chunk of time by myself and I cherish that alone time. But to not meet up with people—at the workplace, classroom, coffee shop, or favorite dinner spot; choir practice; Contra dancing; or, game night—at the various gathering spots that are part of life, is quite a different story. It’s just not natural! Sure, it was a blessing to have the tools that technology has given us, like Zoom and Skype to be able to meet virtually. But that is no match for being physically in the company of others. We are social beings and we require physical touch and interaction. We need to feel the energy of others, and through them sense God … Continue reading →

One-Word Prayer

joyceskaye.com Posted on by

Help!—my one-word prayer throughout most of today. I’ve been working this technical writing contract for several months but it’s not been very satisfying. There hasn’t always been a lot of work either, but last week I got slammed work as my manager finally had a chance to get me what was needed to proceed before she left on vacation. In looking over the various tasks I needed to tackle, I have found myself lacking energy and focus. Of course, that won’t do. I am a professional, getting paid to do work, and it needs to get done. I cannot regress to being a child saying, “I don’t wanna!” Coming out of my morning meditation, I consciously chose to dwell on the good and what I wanted to achieve today, rather than be fearful and dread how I would manage to get through this round of work. And, I realized I didn’t have to think I was alone in this situation, my go-to mindset. Spirit is with me always and wants only good for me. Spirit has the Power and I can use it! So throughout the day I was pretty much chanting “Help!”, seeking to stay focused and be productive. … Continue reading →

Come By Here, Spirit

joyceskaye.com Posted on by

Today’s reading in “Everyday Joy, 365 days of ohmygod life,” by Z Egloff and Melissa Phillippe stated the original meaning of the word “kumbaya” was “come by here” as in Come by here, Spirit. We need your help. The reading got me curious enough to learn a bit more about this term and its history, as I’ve always enjoyed listening to and singing the song with that single word title. There is lengthy discussion provided by the Library of Congress; below is a brief summary. The most common claim made today about the origins of “Kumbaya” is that it is from the Gullah-Geechee people of coastal Georgia and South Carolina. The earliest record in the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center (AFC) comes from lyrics collected in North Carolina in 1926 for a song called “Oh Lord, Won’t You Come By Here.” The spiritual pleads for divine intervention—for God to come by here and help a people in great need, referencing an area historically connected to the enslavement and oppression of African Americans. The following rendition of  “Kumbaya” is sung by the Soweto Gospel Choir. In asking for help, we acknowledge that we can’t do this thing called Life alone. … Continue reading →

The Life I Desire

joyceskaye.com Posted on by

There is a Power for Good in the universe and I can use it to create the life I desire. I know that negative beliefs, subconscious thoughts, long-ago memories, and race consciousness, among other things, pose challenges for me to manifest my good. But I also know the following and I affirm: I know that I am one with God. I know that God in me is perfect. I know that my real nature is spiritual. I know that I exist in a boundless good, in a heavenly state, and in perfect being. I know that my mind is being acted upon by pure Spirit. Divine Intelligence guides me into peace, happiness and success, into joy, love and perfect life. – “This Thing Called You,” by Ernest Holmes, page 67 With Spirit everything is possible. I need to clear the road (i.e., my mind) so that the good that is seeking me finds me. I create the life I desire, one filled with loving friends, exciting adventures, meaningful work and service, continuous financial prosperity, vibrant health, a sacred life partnership, and so many other abundant blessings.  And so it is!

Continue reading →

Intuition, From God

joyceskaye.com Posted on by

Happy spring! This is my favorite season of the year. Like many other folks, I am always reminded of rebirth and starting anew, fresh. And, sometimes, I really need that reminder… like after two-plus years of much isolation due to the pandemic and feeling a bit stuck. It was in the beginning of spring of 1990 when I started learning about and practicing the Twelve Steps, and it was truly a rebirth, BIG time. There was so much to learn, so much to incorporate into my life, along with so many supportive people coming into my life. That led to me being more receptive to try out activities that I’d not engaged in before; one of these was yoga. The corporation I worked for at the time had a fitness center, which in addition to the usual exercise equipment, offered yoga classes, a bit progressive in those days. Not only did I make use of the equipment, which was new, I attended an after-work yoga class. The instructor would end the class by having us sit in meditation (yet another new thing for me) for a few minutes, and then close with a reading from ‘some’ book. It turns out … Continue reading →

Expectancy

joyceskaye.com Posted on by

  “We are dealing with a creative Power that acts upon our thinking…It operates upon us like all other forces of nature. With this in mind, we have every right to expect all that is desirable. “The creative Power is always reacting to us as we act in It. It is always creating in our bodies and in our affairs. Consequently, we should all learn to live in a state of joyous and enthusiastic expectancy… Nothing is too good to be true. Nothing is too much to ask of that Power that can do anything.” – “365 Science of Mind: A Year of Daily Wisdom from Ernest Holmes,” March 18   “Knowing the impossibility of lack and limitation, I now declare the Spirit within abundant and prosperous. “This life gives back to me everything I give of myself.” – “Science of Mind Magazine,” March 18, 2022 When I was growing up, if I was excited about some situation or some opportunity that seemed absolutely perfect and fabulous, I was often told “it must be too good to be true.” What a depressing way to look at life and the world! We have a Power that can accomplish anything! Coming into … Continue reading →

God’s Direction

joyceskaye.com Posted on by

“Each of us brings different gifts along on our journey… We don’t, however, always know how to use them. Some people seem to know how to put their talents to good use. Many of us botch them until we get help from God, who gave them to us. “Each of our talents has a purpose. We weren’t given them by accident… But we don’t live up to our potential without God’s direction.” I put my talents in God’s hands so that I can live at full capacity. – “In God’s Care*: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery,” March 17 *As We Understand God I am clear that we each have talents and gifts unique to just us. I discovered more of mine when I got into Twelve Step program and got to practice Step 12, “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive overeaters and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” This step is about being of service, volunteering, and sharing your time, gifts, and talents. When called to give of myself to keep the organization operating, to strengthen my recovery, as well as to show my … Continue reading →

Communicating with Humans vs. Spirit

joyceskaye.com Posted on by

Communicating with humans is a challenge. My team works remotely and sometimes we don’t connect for days at a time. On Friday, I noticed one colleague I’ll call Cathi, a project manager, was offline, but I didn’t want to text her privately. I figured she’d decided to take the day off, either to just relax or perhaps to provide some extra emotional support to her mom who is first generation American from Ukraine and, not surprisingly, especially distressed these days. This morning, Cathi wasn’t online again. And then, I and the other two members of my team got a meeting invitation from another manager with an agenda stating it was to introduce herself to us. Uh-oh. Turns out we had a new manager and Cathi had been let go with no notice; what a shock. We are all contractors with the same staffing agency and the new manager thought we’d been told—ha! Corporate America strikes again with lack of transparency and courtesy! But it’s just not them. I was involved in another situation over the weekend where the other person refused to speak to me honorably. Communicating with humans is such a challenge—it doesn’t seem to matter that we have … Continue reading →