Appreciating Comments by Doreen Virtue

I just received Doreen Virtue's Angel Therapy(R) Monthly Newsletter for February 2009. It is available free at www.angeltherapy.com.

I can't agree more with her main article, "On Giving, Receiving, and Healing the Economy by Doreen Virtue." I encourage you to get the newsletter and read the article in full.

Ms. Virtue suggests that we each have power to heal the economy by acting with confidence and courage. She says, "The economy appears to be stalled, because there’s a fear of the security in the future. Yet, by holding back on spending or giving, we create a self-fulfilling prophecy and a bottle-neck effect."

I say YES! to this. I believe that money is just one form of energy. Consider electricity: if the circuit is broken, the energy doesn't flow. So, too, with money; stopping the flow at my hand stops it from flowing to me. To receive more, I must keep it flowing through my hand.

Of course, there is opportunity for discernment as we each decide the direction to send our money. I heartily agree with her encouragement to buy goods at locally-owned stores.

Ms. Virtue also urges us to continue giving "with joy and courage," and being generous with those in need. Every day, find an opportunity to give somebody "a smile, a hug, words of encouragement, a ride, a meal, or money."

I say another YES! The act of giving, especially without expectation of getting something in return, is an expression of abundance and gratitude. I believe that when we give, no matter the form of the energy--love, time, labor, kindness, goods, money, etc.--we are effectively saying to the Universe, "I am grateful that I have enough of this to share, and I trust that I will have enough to share in the future." What a powerful statement!

Finally, I appreciate that Ms. Virtue offers actions that we can take to reduce our fears and increase our faith. Of her five suggestions, these are my two favorites:

"Write your worries or concerns and put them in a special box (I call it a God Box) as a physical demonstration of "letting go and letting God" help you with the issues."

"Keep asking yourself: "What is the blessing within this situation?" There’s always a silver lining to every seeming problem."

For the full text of her remarks, including the other three actions you can take, request her newsletter at her website: http://www.angeltherapy.com.

Thank you, Doreen Virtue!

Amen, and Blessed be!

Spiritual Integrity

How would the world be different if we each "walked our talk?" What if our everyday actions were more aligned with our closest-held values and spiritual beliefs?

While waiting at a left-turn red light the other day, I heard a car blow its horn as it passed on my right. I looked in my mirror to find that a Jeep was blocking the through lane next to me, as its driver apparently decided to turn left too late to get in the turn lane properly. There was still an open lane on her right, but it created a traffic hazard as people didn't expect a stopped car in the through lane and had to change lanes to get around her.

The next car to move around her was a man in an SUV, who gave her a middle-finger salute as he passed. I was amused to notice the only bumper sticker on his car, which was actually placed higher than the bumper, perhaps for greater visibility. I couldn't read it because he was speeding away and the print was too small. But I did recognize the symbol on it to be the familiar logo of a popular brand of Christianity (name omitted because it's irrelevant).

Obviously this driver momentarily forgot not only that he was advertising his religion on his car, but also that his spiritual beliefs don't include impatience, selfishness, and rude gestures. (I recognize that I am making an assumption that the driver's beliefs match those professed by the religion his car advertised. Who knows--maybe it was his wife's car.)

Scenes like this happen in all of our lives. Sometimes we're driving the SUV, and sometimes the Jeep. When they do happen, we can give them no more thought once the incident ends. Or, we can reflect on them with honesty. What did I do, say, and think during that scene, and did my actions, words, and thoughts reflect what I profess to be my values and spiritual beliefs?

Such awareness gives us an opportunity not only to measure our spiritual integrity but also to choose greater alignment in the future. Blessed be!