Taking Tests, Learning Lessons

In church this morning, the minister used a nice analogy within an analogy. Life, he said, is like a school and we are constantly being tested.

Comparing life to school is a common comparison, but what made me laugh was when he added that when we were in school and had to take a test, we didn’t

How Free Will and Divine Intervention Coexist

"Earth Angel" by Josephine Wall (josephinewall.co.uk)

If you wonder why God allows people to do evil things to other people, what you’re really saying is that you don’t believe in free will. Throughout history, people with malicious intent have exercised their free will to hurt others. God does not directly interfere because, by definition, free will would be rendered meaningless if it were interfered with.

Yet, Divine intervention is also at work. The Divine is always speaking to you, guiding you, nudging you toward your highest good, but it is up to you whether or not you choose to listen. Both free will and divine intervention come down to this: You

Of Dragons and Princesses

Every staggering loss you have endured has played a major role in shaping who you are. Pain and purpose walk hand in hand.

Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage.
Rainer Maria Rilke

By simple virtue of enduring what must

Blame Yourself If You Have No Branches or Leaves

As you live more consciously, you tackle each obstacle with equal parts detachment, discernment, and determination, recognizing that it contains divinely encoded instructions designed to further your growth.

The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.
Theodore Isaac Rubin

The higher your consciousness, the greater the

We Are All Failures

Even the gravest of mistakes can be a blessing if you use it as a key to unlock inner storehouses of fortitude and resolve.

Failure is God’s own tool for carving some of the finest outlines in the character of his children.
Thomas Hodgkin

Behind every successful person is a trail of

Work Through Your Relationship Grief

Last summer, my marriage ended. I didn’t want it to, but the gap between our lifestyles kept widening, and splitting up soon became the obvious course of action. I was heartbroken, but from the start I recognized that there was great value in my grieving process.

I’m sharing what I went through in the hope that the process that helped me recover relatively quickly may offer some comfort to others who are hurting. It took me four months to heal, which is far better than four years . . . or forever. You can recover from a broken heart. You can heal. You can be whole again.

Look for the Lessons!

The more you learn about how the universe operates, the more you realize that you are not simply a hapless bystander, buffeted about by the winds of chance. You are a full partner in the creative process, a conscious co-creator of every moment in your life and of the world in which you live.

So if you want to change the circumstances of your life, challenge yourself to interpret events, relationships and challenges symbolically rather than literally. Heightening your awareness of the lessons embedded in daily life helps you perceive the deeper meaning and ultimate purpose of life experiences.