Celebrating Firsts!

The first Friday Message of the new year.

I love “firsts” … the first time eating at a new restaurant, the first time hearing a new song, the first time visiting a new shop, or a new location, the first time meeting someone, the first new flower on my rosebushes. At my age, I could think that there aren’t as many firsts as with someone who is younger, yet there are, and there is still something so magical about ‘first time’s’.

When we’re younger we don’t have anything to compare the new experience with, yet we adults do that all the time, don’t we? We constantly compare the present moment to something in our past, thereby taking ourselves out of the Now.

Many of the great spiritual teachers throughout history have “live in the now” as a large part of their teachings. I believe this is what Jesus meant when he said “Come unto me as a little child.” A child comes to each event without conceptions of how it should be, and thereby is able to relish each moment.

The Truth is nothing is ever exactly the same. Each moment is a “first.” Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher of the late 6th century BCE known for his teachings on eternal change, said: “It is not possible to step into the same river twice”. And so it is with our lives. Every morning I look out my windows at a beautiful greenbelt. The brook I noticed when I moved in four months ago has become a small river covering the lower part of the backyard. It even has islands! Yesterday I watched a squirrel jump from island to island and race up and down the cedar trees. The day before I watched two ducks enjoying the water. Not long ago I watched a blue heron fishing. I could look out that same window every day at the same time for the rest of my life, and the view would always be different!

And so it is with our lives.

When we are in the present time, we’re conscious. When we’re in the past or the future, our bodies continue on automatic, (I’m sure you’ve had the experience of driving somewhere, getting to your destination, and then wondering, “How did I do that?”) yet, we’re asleep. Our goal is to wake up!!

So, how does one stay in the now? Be where your body is. How simple, yet not easy! Our minds are always carrying us off into the past or the future. It takes training and discipline to spend quality time right where we are. Here’s an exercise: tonight when you brush your teeth, see how long you can be conscious of what you’re doing. I’ll bet you have to drag your mind back into present time quite a few times during this simple exercise! However, like any exercise, keep it up and you will have great results!

What I know is True, is that the Universe is continually giving – in the present moment! In order to experience the richness of Life, we must be awake in present time. Here’s an old but true cliché: Today is the first day of the rest of your life! Enjoy the experience fully!

Happy Firsts, Rev. Angelica

SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT

The infinitely intelligent Creative Energy of Life is absolutely everywhere. It is the Source of all things, the Power behind all things. It is, and that is all there is. I am so grateful to know I am an expression of this Oneness. All that It is, I am.

I accept this Truth. All that Life is, I am. I now declare I am awake. As I experience each moment, it is brand new, unfettered by my beliefs and feelings from the past. I now experience Life is all Its richness. My physical body is vitally alive and healthy. My emotional body is clear and vibrant. My mental body is filled with beliefs that support the goodness of Life.

Each breath is the first breath of The Divine as me. Each thought is the first thought of The Divine as me. I live in present time, and it is good, very good.

With a grateful heart, I celebrate Life with every fiber of my being. I love Life and live joyfully. I accept the givingness of The Divine in each moment with ease and grace. And so it is.