I love to sit on the deck and enjoy the Beauty of this precious place.
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What if you didn’t know that the oak tree was in the acorn? What if you planted an avocado seed, and, as it began to grow toward the light you went stood over it every day and said, “What if it doesn’t become an avocado tree? What if it becomes a pine tree or a maple tree? What if it doesn’t bear the fruit I want? What if it doesn’t bear any fruit at all? What if it doesn’t work out the way I want it to and need it to? What if I’m wasting my time?”
Would that impact the tree’s growth and supply?
We know that it would.
From seed to tree, an avocado can take as long as 13 years before you’ll be making any guacamole or avocado toast. I’m absolutely certain that having a tree that provides fruit sooner and with more abundance is something we can influence with our mind. I know it because I’ve seen it – not specifically with avocados (I wish!), but with ALL of the living things in my life.
What if you put your trust and faith in fearful thoughts and, in early days of the avocado tree’s growth, you were to start telling the growing plant that it didn’t have what it took, it would never bear fruit, it was a hot mess and failure was almost certain? Would that plant ever become a tree? Unlikely.
Partly, it’s about faith. It’s also about vision.
We’re always placing our faith and trust in something. In each moment, we’re either placing our trust and faith in Spirit or the ego. WHERE we place our trust and faith determines the outcome, every time. We have the power of decision. We decide where to place our trust and faith. We decide.
It’s planting season and I’m up in Maine at our family’s summer home on Deer Isle, which we now rent our house in order to be able to afford to keep it in our family. I’m here for another week getting the gardens and flower pots ready. I’m enjoying doing the planting and preparation. It’s a lot of work. I’m thrilled to see that the new plants I put in last year and the year before are mostly prospering nicely.
Right now, on this island off the coast of Maine, the vines are just beginning to show some growth, the bushes are barely beginning to leaf as the days get warmer and the threat of frost recedes, but I know that these same plants will become glorious come summer.
I’m fairly new to gardening, rarely having had a home that was mine to garden in. I was always an apartment dweller. Now, each year I plant new things and I’m excited to see what unfolds. I pray throughout the winter for the nature spirits to nurture all the living things in the garden when the weather is so cold, the the winds blow so hard and the snow piles so high.
My Mom was the gardener in our family and when she became ill, there was no one to Love the garden like she did. She passed ten years ago and for the first eight years I didn’t do anything in the garden because my Dad was living here and then he remarried and it wasn’t mine to do. But two years ago My Dad and stepmom moved to Florida, and I took over the gardens and the plantings.
The first year I planted new things late in August. There was a sale at the nursery and I went BERSERK buying beautiful plants at 30% off. There was at least one who thought I was foolish and wasting my money because they would all die in the winter – it was too late to plant. I can see that. There’s a logic to that line of thinking. However, I’m not a logic based person – I’m a vision based person. I live by vision and that’s the way I do most everything.
Spirit has taught me that there is a highest and best in absolutely everything. If I choose, I can align with Spirit and have trust and faith that I’m being led, guided and provided to see, know and feel what is the highest and best in each moment.
I had a vision of these plants growing and flourishing. I had trust and faith that they would fulfill their destiny.
I love flowering things. When I lived in an apartment in Los Angeles I had palm trees and orchids Even though orchids bloom usually for only one to three months, I’ve routinely had orchids that were still flowering beautifully four and even five months later. Why? Because I love them. I tell them how beautiful they are. I let them know how much I appreciate them. I don’t take them for granted. I’m so grateful for their healing presence in my life.
Beauty is healing, it’s nourishing to the soul. Beauty inspires and uplifts. I LOVE being able to share Beauty with others so that we can all feel inspired and uplifted. It’s one of the reasons why I look for beautiful and fun photographs to share on my Daily Shot of Spiritual Espresso blog each day.
Living by vision is an entirely different way of living then living by logic and reasoning and many people find that it’s not comfortable, and even insane. I find that many times when I feel guided to do something, people will ask me HOW it will ever happen and I don’t know how. That hasn’t been told to me yet. I only know that it WILL happen if I allow the how to be revealed and follow.
Ask
Listen
Follow
That’s the way that works for me.
Ask for the vision.
Listen or receive the vision.
Follow the guidance that comes.
It takes some getting used to. It’s a recalibration of the nervous system to learn to allow the how.
Many ask, but don’t listen.
Many ask and listen, but don’t follow.
I’ve tried it all ways and ask, listen and follow is the way that I grow to know.
The ego personality wants to know what everything is about all the time so it can plan for failure.
Living by vision is the opposite.
There is no possibility of failure.
Failure is a concept of the ego that is completely an illusion.
In Spirit there is no such thing as failure.
Failure does not exist.
Failure is a perception.
Failure is projection.
Trust is a precious investment.
Trust in the ego is an investment in learning through pain.
Trust in Spirit is an investment in learning through Joy.
We choose where to invest our attention and energy.
Because I felt so called to live a life of Love and I felt so far away from it, I had to ask Spirit to show me. There was no other way I could see for me to learn HOW. In that learning, I had to trust Spirit or experience my projections of failure. This is how I learned to listen and follow. I learned to hold the vision. I learned to ALLOW.
I so LOVE what Michael Beckwith said:
“When you believe more in what you don’t see,
than what you do see,
then you will see what you don’t see
and you won’t see what you do see.”
In other words:
When you place your faith in Spirit,
instead of in the world,
then you won’t see the world as you thought it was,
but you will see Spirit’s true reality.
It took me A LOT of practice.
I’m now SO grateful for every falling down I’ve ever had because it showed me how to get up.
Now, I know how to get up in all kinds of situations and circumstances and that’s what I share with others. I’m now SO GRATEFUL for every terrifying and painful moment because I learned something I can share with others and help prevent them from learning as I learned.
I am so grateful to know God more clearly with each passing moment, and I share that with others who are also having miraculous healing on all levels.
Now, working in the garden this past few days, I can see that the things that didn’t do very well that first year are going GANGBUSTERS this second year. Thrilling! Wonderful! Marvelous!
I’ve always loved the quote from Thornton Wilder’s play The Matchmaker, (which became the musical Hello Dolly!), he said,
“Money is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around encouraging young things to grow.”
And that’s why I love to share. I also like to encourage older things to start growing again! Whether it’s people or plants. The old tired azalea’s I thought might have to be dug out are reviving! Some fertilizer and some attention is bringing great benefit – as always!
Here’s one of the flower beds from last year!
It’s so exciting to see the Spirit in anything or anyone that’s been held with vision flourish and prosper. That’s what I see happening with the spiritual counselors that I’m training. I’m seeing it unfold everywhere in this Power of Love Ministry. It’s God’s ministry and I serve the vision of it, which is for it to flourish and grow as a teaching ministry, teaching the teachers and teachers of teachers. God has a vision and it is my joy to hold that vision. I’m training others to do it too! Beautiful!
We are our own avocado trees.
We are our own orchids.
Our life IS God’s Garden.
Let’s hold the highest and best for everyone in the garden of Life!
Ask, listen, follow.
There’s a vision of perfection that’s unfolding for each of us.
We are ALL called to express it.
Willingness is all that’s required.
Spirit will provide the rest and the best to us just like it does to the avocado tree.
Trust and faith are always present in our heart and mind.
We choose WHERE to place our trust in faith – in Spirit or in our own perceptions and projections.
We choose to ALLOW the vision to lead us.
We know what happens when we place our trust in thoughts of lack, attack, limitation and separation. Let’s choose a different way. Let’s live a life of vision. Let’s ALLOW it to be revealed.
What I know is that by learning to live by God’s Vision, my whole life has healed and continues to be made new. This is what I hold for YOU!
BTW, I have done MANY episodes about trust and faith on my weekly A Course in Miracles weekly Radio Show and you can search through the archive for episodes on whatever topic you’re interested in.
I made a VIDEO a few years ago about Trust & Faith. You can see one of my orchids in the background!
We’re an expanding global spiritual community of prayerful people willing to be co-workers with God. We’re waking up together and finding freedom in our hearts. I’m so grateful for this!
If you find what I’m sharing helpful, won’t you please share at facebook and twitter to let others know? Thank you!
