Day 1

Into the Desert

Fear not the aloneness and isolation that you might feel. You are beginning a journey into the knowing, a journey of self-awareness. This is a place that isolation does not know. This is the place where you will begin and end your journey. Happiness and profound joy will be yours in this sacred place. The desert is not a place of desolation but a place of plenty. Forgo the need to tell yourself to forget this or that. We shall guide you on this journey. Therefore, the first requirement is that of surrender. Surrender your heart to us for safekeeping, as we are aware of your secrets, your fantasies, your desires, and your fears. Your gestures to circumvent the truth are fruitless. It is our desire to teach you the art of happiness and forgiveness. These are two gifts that we will bless you with. You may prefer other blessings at the moment; however, these two homages will carry you to any destination you desire to reach. Like two balls rolling down hill, they will always place you in the same spot—the place of truth and awareness. Go forth bravely on this journey of hope. The quest for happiness is an odd one, we feel, for you currently possess everything you will ever need to create your happiness. Perhaps the fact that all is yours at this present moment will become more self-evident during this traveling time.

A Poem for Quiet Reflection

Circular movements,
Currents on air,
Come to Me in silence
And lay your body bare.
You seek the inner knowing,
The mystic's foreign quest,
A space of the uncommon,
A place where your faith will be put to rest.
For these footsteps that you walk in
Have been traveled by many before.
However, strength and endurance are not the issue;
It will be the battle of the ego that you will come to deplore.
Walk silently on the path before you,
The path of inner light.
Your sanctity will be verified
When your soul is ripe.

Questions for Contemplation

1. What do I currently need in my life to feel complete?

2. Why do I feel I need this to be complete?

3. How does this grasping for "completeness" cause my suffering?

4. Am I willing to take responsibility for my own suffering?

5. Am I willing and open to looking at things differently?

A Prayer Just for Today

Help me to see Your ways. Open my eyes and heal my heart so that I may see the perfection of the situation. Help me to surrender to You. Help me to know that You will lead me to the highest good of this situation. Guide me to see that everything is unfolding beautifully—that there is a plan. I sit in absolute love, knowing that I am always taken care of.

Mantra

I am willing and open.

Day 2

Who Am I?

Like all things in creation, you are a concept. You are a concept of God's creative mind and a concept of your own creative mind. You have created who you are. You have created the concept of who you are and who you shall be. Defining the concept of you is not deferred to others who may be misguided enough to imagine they can create who you are. Do not follow the illusion of who others think you should be. It is not within the scope of their purpose to define you or another. The process of creating the concept of you is an eternal process. The aspects of you are as infinite as the mind of God. Understand that you may see yourself as many concepts. This is similar to watching the colors of a crystal transform as the light and angle of your gaze define its impression.

A Poem for Quiet Reflection

Close your eyes and think of Me.
The world is not the way you perceive it to be.
Many questions and challenges lie on the road before you.
It is your perception of the world that currently blocks your view.

Some will disappoint you and even break your heart.
The key is to remember not to lose hope, for we never exist apart.
People will have opinions on the perfect
way to kneel down to pray.
Remember, I will am not a ritual, a rule, or
an organized set of principles to obey.
I am the loving gratitude and unconditional
love you carry deep within your chest.
Rejoice and connect to this feeling on a
daily basis, and I will do the rest.

Questions for Contemplation

1. How do I define myself?

2. What situations do I let define me?

3. Who do I pretend to be?

4. How do I feel when I pretend?

5. How would I like others to see me?

6. Why is that important to me?

7. Complete the following sentence: I feel the most alive when I ...

A Prayer Just for Today

Lord, let my true essence light the way.
I will have many thoughts throughout my busy day.
People will tell me who I am and what they want me to be.
Bless my heart and my mind so I may be worry free.
It is through my stillness that I find my connection with You.
Come breathe into me so that I may carry
You the whole day through.

Mantra

I reside within the mind of God.

Day 3

What Am I?

Sensing who you are is a complex aspect of who you are and why you are here. You look at yourself in the mirror and assume that you know completely who you are. You assess yourself, taking inventory of only those things that you can see. Now, let me tell you about who you really are. You are the whole one of everything. This life is, by its very nature, divine. In the beginning there was almighty God, the divine One. There was never a nothing For God, in His divine nature is a continuum of creativity. There is no beginning and no end.

Therefore, since God is, was, and will always be, there is always going to be something. It follows then that if it is made by God's divine hand, it is divine as well.

This will hopefully provide a better understanding of whom and what you see in the mirror from now on. Realize that when you look at yourself, you are seeing the divine workmanship of God. His workshop never closes. Yet despite His endless work, people more readily recognize a trademarked product than the work of God. You are a name brand. The brand is called Divine.

A Poem for Quiet Reflection

To truly see myself for the first time
Is to see the eternal flame of hope.
I see my face illuminated among the stars
And my name written in the sky.
I am the gatherer of clouds,
The collector of leaves,
The secret keeper,
The granter of wishes.
I tend the garden
And turn the sacred soil that nourishes the soul.
I know that from You I have sprung forth,
An eager bud longing for Your glowing kiss,
Knowing that my petals are just a mere reflection
Of Your seed of grace that resides within me.
I see myself in everything, and as I do,
I come to know the God that blooms in me.

Questions for Contemplation

1. Where did this "me" within this body come from?

2. What does "created in God's image" mean to me?

3. If I truly believe I was created by a higher power, in the image of God, do I really see the God in me, in everything I do, and in every thought I have?

4. At what point did I abandon my vision of my own divinity?

5. If we were all created by God and in His image,...