Last week while visiting the washroom at Starbucks I looked up at poster of a tree with words all over it … the words on the trunk jumped out at me:

"The deeper the roots, the higher the reach."

I don't remember what else was written on the poster, because that statement was so profound. I began to wonder "How deep are my roots?"

Years ago I planted a Kukui Nut Tree in my back yard. The early Hawaiians used the nuts as lamps because of a pool of oil that filled the top of the nut. They considered the Kukui a sacred plant and a symbol of enlightenment.

I nurtured that tree, and it grew large and beautifully. It even grew leaves with seven points instead of five, which I took to be a mystical symbol. It grew white Kukui nuts on it, which I wasn't expecting as they are more rare - another mystical symbol. I could feel the energy of this tree as I nurtured it. I gave it love and it gave me strength. I would take visitors out to see it so they could feel the energy. I loved this tree.

Then one day we had a tremendous windstorm. The upper part of the tree was ripped off, and the roots were torn up. A friend who specialized in Hawaiian plants said the root system was too shallow. He replanted it properly yet it didn't have the same feeling for me. I felt like part of me had been torn up. I mourned that tree.

I meditated on the experience and realized I had put my Power outside of myself. I had given it to the tree. The tree did wonderfully for a while, but when a challenge came up, it couldn't stand up to it.

That's what happens to us when we give our Power away. When our Spiritual roots aren't deep enough. What are those roots? They are the Presence at the very core of our being. They support all our thoughts and feelings. They support our expression of Divine Life. It might look like we're reaching to the sky, but when push comes to shove, if our spiritual roots are not deep, we fall apart. How do we make them stronger? Through doing our spiritual practices, consistently and consciously. And not just with our thoughts. Dr. Holmes writes in the Science of Mind "The Creative Power responds to feeling more quickly than to any other mental attitude." Let yourself feel your meditation and Spiritual Mind Treatments, and your roots will grow deep and the higher your consciousness will reach.

SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT

The perfect Presence of The Divine is around me and within me. It is my lifeline. It is my roots.

I choose today to nurture my roots and allow myself to flourish. I do my spiritual practices with grace and love. I gather my power back from all the places I have left it, and allow myself to see that my true Power is Present Within.

As I contemplate these roots in my meditation and Treatment work, I recognize my Source. I allow myself to expand into Christ Consciousness, empowering me to say "If you see me, you see God." I celebrate my awareness of the Sacredness of all Life.

There is only One, and that One is working through me according to my deepest feelings and beliefs. I rejoice in knowing these Principles, and working with them as I create a more authentic life.

I am grateful that my roots are deep and my Life is Divine. And so It is.

Once again I'm grateful to the Mountainview Alliance Church on 200 St. who's marquee gives me inspiration on the drive home. A few days ago it read:

Use your past as a springboard not a sofa.

When I first saw this I started laughing, remembering a commercial where young man was sitting on the couch watching TV, and when he turned off the TV and tried to get up, the couch tried to suck him into it, and even chased him through the house when he got away.

Then I started thinking. We love a comfy sofa. Sometimes the sofa is old and threadbare, yet because it's comfortable and familiar, we don't want to replace it – we just throw a cover over it, and continue to use it anyway. Sometimes we sit down on the sofa, and a sort of laziness comes over us, and it's easier to just sit or lay there, than get up and be productive.

Are we like that with the stories of our past? Do we sink into those stories, and because they are so familiar, do we find it difficult to rise above them? Do we try to cover them up? Do we let them become entities, chasing us through our lives? Do we let them immobilize us?

Yes, we do. Sometimes we live in those stories as if they are happening today. Sometimes instead of doing the work necessary to move beyond those stories, we cover them up with excuses, or rationalize them.

All of our experiences are meant to move us along our evolutionary path. None of them are permanent. We can let go. We can and have learned from our history. It truly is time to let our past be our springboard – individually and collectively.

SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT

There is only One Life – that Life is God's Life, and It is living Itself through and as me right now. It always has and It always will.

I rejoice in knowing this, because it reminds me that everything I have ever said or done has been the right thing for the moment. How can God make a mistake?

It was the right thing for that moment, perhaps not this one. Therefore I let go of my stories of the past. I will always have a history, but I do not need to be attached to it.

Because I remember I am in the process of creating new history with every thought and feeling, I declare I have learned what I wanted to learn from each story I created, and have let those stories be a springboard into my now. I declare I am fully present. I live in this moment, authentically. Each moment is a Divine Moment and I make it a good one. More springboards into my future!

Gratefully I release these words into the Law of Mind, recognizing their value. The Truth sets me free!!

And So It Is.