Last night I went through a huge box of pictures I have been carrying around for quite awhile. Some were so old I couldn’t remember all the names of the people in them. Some pictures are faded and almost look antique. Many are pictures of people who have “changed address” as the Hawaiians say. All were images of experiences frozen in time that evoked memories.
The thing that fascinated me the most is that I was pretty! I have always thought I was plain. I have seen these pictures before and never noticed that. Why didn’t any one ever tell me? Well, they probably did – but I didn’t hear it. I thought my sister and Mother were beautiful. They knew they were beautiful and acted like it. I wanted to look like them.
For awhile I wrestled with the idea I had missed something … that if I had known I was pretty when I was younger, life somehow would have been different. Then once again I realized how evact consciousness is. I always “thought” I was plain, and so that’s what I saw. My Mother and sister “thought” they were beautiful and so they were.
I was looking through those pictures because tomorrow is my 60th birthday. I had been going through the “oh my gawd how could I have gotten so old” syndrome … for some reason 60 seems sooo much older than 59. I was approaching this birthday with a little frisson of dread every time I thought of the Big 6 – 0. Then I remembered I’ve been 60 since my last birthday! (At our one year birthday, we’ve already lived a year) It’s been a very good year.
So rather than be disappointed because I never realized I was pretty when I was younger, or dismayed because I am now in my 60’s, I decided to change my thinking. I re-read my favourite writing on birthday’s … it’s by Dr. Robert Bitzer, one of the Greats of Religious Science.
“I love birthdays. They have nothing to do with age or getting older. They represent milestones of progress and degrees of growth in wisdom. Years do no make us older; thought does that if we let it.
The greatest event in our life was our birth. A tremendous comic push literally catapulted us from the womb. This God thrust has been a continuous mighty force in our life ever since. Our self-evolution takes us on an upward spiral in our soul’s expansion. Each year as we go over the spot on our spiral that registered our birth, we receive a new cosmic thrust from the same originating mind; inspiration and power for a new year, new life, new expansion. Nothing of the past year is included in the spiral; only that which is ahead of us. We are always the product of our self acceptance.
We came from God, we are still in God and always will be life. This should be our eternal remembrance. The longer we live the more things we have to forget. Progressive souls rise above mistakes, failures and frustrations. Such beliefs and experiences are cast out of consciousness. Those that cannot, or will not, detach themselves from mistakes and negation, become subject to the burden which false beliefs impose.
An ancient teaching affirmed that our positive, constructive attitudes register in our consciousness as light. The Infinite recognizes us only as shining light. Failure and negation are not recorded. Only our sincerity and integrity, revealed as light, has nay permanence. We are accountable for our progress and what we do accomplish. “Thou, God, seest me perfect. How do YOU see yourself on your birthday?”
How do I see myself on my birthday? As I looked through those pictures I was reminded of what a good life I have lived, full of love, and good friends. I’ve had wonderful experiences, traveled to amazing places, interacted with awesome people. I’ve gotten to do what I’ve wanted to do most of my adult life. I am so very grateful!
Years ago, when I was first getting into Religious Science, I took a class that included making a treasure map. On it I put some words I had decided would be my epitaph: “Her life was better than most people’s fantasies.” And so it has been – and it’s not over yet!!
Thank you all for being a part of my life. You are part of what has made my life so magnificent!
Grateful Blessings, Rev. Angelica
SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT
Divine Love flows throughout the universe from the one Source that is infinitely intelligent. This Intelligence is my Lifeforce. It has always been, and always will be.
Today I celebrate re-birth. I open my self to the Divine Flow and let It make all things new. My body is refreshed, my mind is cleared, my heart is clean.
As I step into the newness of Life, I do so unimpeded by old beliefs. I live in the Light and it feels so good. I am so grateful for my expanding consciousness.
