Each Day a New Beginning: September 8th

It's astonishing in this world how things don't turn out at all the way you expect them to!
—Agatha Christie

Probably every day of our lives, a plan goes awry. Often we have counted heavily on a particular outcome. We generally assume we have all things under control and know exactly what's best for us, and everyone else as well. But such is not the case. There is a bigger picture than the one we see. The outcome of that picture is out of our hands.

Our vision is limited, and again divinely so. However, we are able to see all that we need to see, today. And more important, if we can trust our inner guidance regarding the events of today, we'll begin to see how each day fills in a shade more of the bigger picture of our lives. In retrospect we can see how all events have contributed, in important ways, to the women we are becoming. Where today's events are leading we can't know, for certain, but we can trust the divine plan.

I will anticipate with faith what lies ahead today. All experiences carry me forward to fulfill my goal in life. I will be alert for the nudge.

From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey © 1982, 1991 by Hazelden Foundation.

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 It’s an Inside Job!

In art, the hand
can never execute
anything higher
than the heart can
imagine.—
Ralph Waldo
Emerson

Prayer is a mental
approach to Reality.
It is not the
symbol but the idea
symbolized that
makes prayer effective.


The heart and mind are used as
interchangeable sources from
which we create. It matters not if
the creation is a physical art form or a
prayer. Yet, the outcome of the prayer and
artisan’s hand may not be exactly what was
imagined.

I have heard people say, “It’s not quite
what I had imagined it would be,” or “I
prayed about it, and it just didn’t turn out
the way I wanted.” This means it fell short.
Since it is all based on what we imagine
and what arises within the mind when we
are praying, one wonders what the key
is that opens the door to the phrase and
experience of “Wow! It was so much more
than I ever dreamed it could be!”

How do we receive more wow
experiences? It all is centered on what we
expect to be possible! We can imagine,
dream, and visualize all day long, and if we
don’t couple that with joyful expectancy,
it is just a cool exercise in stretching
the imagination. We must step into the
vibration and feeling tone of “It is done.”
We must see it with the mind’s eye, feel it
with the senses, and joyfully expect it to be
more than we’ve imagined.

Everything is created twice. The first
creation is in the mind, and the second is in
physical form. Since this is how it works, we
might as well go all out in the first creation
and enjoy the pleasures of the second in
physical expression.

Affirmation
I joyfully create
and take pleasure in
the manifestation of
my good.