“Do not assume that divine guidance flows only when you are in need of help. Guidance continues to flow whether or not you have problems. It transcends problems, heartbreaks, and traumas, flowing through dreams and illuminations…. Whether guidance comes during times of tranquility or trauma, however, it is up to you to have the courage to acknowledge it.” ~ Caroline Myss

Happy Sunday!

Last Sunday I wrote down my thoughts trying to work through acceptance of the ‘Law of Attraction’. That night I was continuing my reading of “Conversations with God” by Neale Donald Walsch and ‘lo and behold’ in the book was God speaking about our being creators and the process of creation described by the proponents of “Law of Attraction” (chapter 3 if you’re interested).
I love, Love, LOVE when God gives me these connections, pulling together the threads of what I am thinking with books, TV programs, movies, and life experiences; regular validation that I am still on the path. God is the BEST teacher! Never had I had such support and guidance from a teacher. It feels like regularly being told “Yes Tricia, that’s right, now try this.”
I am always so grateful for the validation that comes from God, this is a big deal for me as it was something I have always wanted. I think about validation so much so that recently I’ve grown concerned that I may be putting too much importance on it. Below is a thought that has just come to me during this writing:

As I walk down the spiritual path I can imagine my steps as I walk along a moist dirt trail through a heavily wooded forest. The many trees restrict my vision from showing me where I might be heading. My ears just hear the light rustling of the leaves on the nearby trees. My own foot steps are silent. My own senses cannot provide me any assistance in knowing where I am heading. Looking ahead I get concerned as I cannot clearly make out which way the trail is leading. I look up and there above me is a blaze clearly showing me that my steps have taken me in the correct direction and also that guidance is being provided.

Perhaps validation isn’t such a big deal, it is just always there for us. It is our own minds that worry and obsess turning within, instead of looking up and seeing the guidance that is God’s promise to all of us. Like a blaze along the trail, it is a promise from God (and thereby, the Universe) for guidance.
Something that I learned this week that has contributed to my shift in thinking was another amazing insight from the book “Conversations with God”. In chapter 5 of this book, God explains that His words given to Moses were not Commandments but instead a covenant, the Ten Commitments. God was not giving us rules to to follow but instead saying that:
“You shall know that you have taken the path to God, and you shall know that you have found God, for there will be these signs, these indications, these changes in you:”
“You shall love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul. And there shall be no other God set before Me. No longer will you worship human love, or success, money, or power, nor any symbol thereof. You will set aside these things as a child sets aside toys. Not because they are unworthy, but because you have outgrown them.”
The section goes on to say that when we are on the path we will want to honor our parents and keep a sabbath, sacred day. We will not consider killing, adultery, lying, coveting, but want to be true and authentic to ourselves. The section concludes with the following:
“These are your freedoms, not your restrictions. These are my commitments, not my commandments. For God does not order about what God has created — God merely tells God’s children: This is how you will know that you are coming home. pp.96-7.”
When I read this I realized that these are the changes that have occurred in me, God has kept his covenant and I am proof.
Now when I think about guidance I smile a bit. It reminds me of the joke Ed Bacon told on Super Soul Sunday about how Grace is like grits in the south “you don’t order grits (Grace), it just comes.” I now see guidance the same way – it just comes, as it has been promised.
Amen!
“The whole course of things goes to teach us faith. We need only obey. There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening we shall hear the right word. . . . Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which flows into you as life, place yourself in the full center of that flood, then you are without effort impelled to truth, to right, and a perfect contentment.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson