Join us at 10:15 am ET/ 8:15 am MT for Our Weekly Sunday Gathering with Rev. Saina Fernandez

Title: “The Innocence of Uncomfortable Feelings”

Description: Rev. Saina will be sharing how uncomfortable feelings can be used to help us to awaken.

Reading: Melody Brauninger will read Ch. 9, VII. The Two Evaluations from A Course in Miracles.

 

*Weekly gathering is held every Sunday morning at 10:15 am ET/8:15 am MT in the Awakening Together Sanctuary. Join us after the Gathering for our Fellowship Time, hosted by Rev. George Maddox.

Enter Sanctuary Here

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Join us at 1:30 pm ET/ 11:30 am MT for Reflections from the In the World but Not of It Retreat

Participants from the recent online retreat with Regina Dawn Akers and Anne Blanchard will be sharing how they are learning to live from the spiritual knowledge that they believe and trust and sharing how they are bringing their spiritual values and desire together into one strong foundation that they actually live, speak and act from. Anne Blanchard will be the admin for this program.

 

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Join us at 5:00 pm ET/ 3:00 pm MT for The Mighty Companions

Revs. Glen Ganaway and Yolanda Mapes, who are interfaith ministers, share a delightful, funny, and inspiring hour of A Course in Miracles. Come join in on the fun, the laughs, and the music while unlearning the ego through the lessons and chapters of ACIM.

 

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Join us at 6:00 pm ET/ 4:00 pm MT for Something Genuine with Rev. Jacquelyn Eckert

Rev. Jacquelyn Eckert facilitates this program, in which Awakening Together members and friends join together to watch and discuss TED talks that reveal the Truth of ourselves and our universe based on the actual experience of ordinary people. Their insights are genuine—not based upon theory or dogma—and give us a “man on the street” perspective on what we are coming to learn through Awakening Together.

 

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Join us at 7:00 pm ET/ 5:00 pm MT for The Guiding Light with Rev. Regina Dawn Akers

Regina Dawn Akers reads selections from the book Perfect Brilliant Stillness by David Carse. The purpose of this inspired book study is to learn to stop focusing on words and concepts. Join Regina as she dives deep into this enlightened book study which isn’t a book study at all! Here’s a link to the book here: Get the book for free

 

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Join us at 7:30 pm ET/ 5:30 pm MT for a Live Satsang with Louise Kay

Louise Kay will be interviewed by Anne Blanchard. Louise Kay was born in Lancashire, in the northwest of the UK. Because of a profound awakening that occurred in India, Louise felt the call to be a teacher on the non-dual path and has developed a spiritual practice which she refers to as Embodied Awareness. This simple and gentle practice is accessible for anybody and supports the transformational process of spiritual awakening.

Louise now holds group events, retreats online and around the world, and one-on-one sessions based on embodied awareness. Her passion is to sit together in presence and hold a gentle, unconditionally loving space for all emotions, all sensations, and all experiences which arise at the moment in order to support the integration of unresolved energies and allow the unfolding of the divine in all who feel the call. You can find out more about Louise on her website: LouiseKay.net

 

 

Please read and contemplate the following commentary in the same way that you read and contemplate the Thought of Awakening each day. The commentaries are designed to enrich your understanding of the Thoughts of Awakening.

~Commentary on Surrender~

Surrender is an act of not knowing while also desiring to be led by knowledge.

Surrender is an intent. It is the intent to be used by all, for all, with the good of all as one’s only purpose.

True surrender cannot be accomplished by one who has his own best interests in mind, because when one has an eye on his own best interests, he has also defined himself as apart from the all.

One can only truly surrender when he forgets to consider his best interests, and he asks the All-ness to make of him a slave, because he knows that to serve without thinking is joy, and to think without serving is the cause of all pain.

~From our Holy Spirit

Note from Regina:  Sometimes in writings such as this one, people have a strong negative reaction to the word “slave.” In this case, “slave” is a devotional term. As you contemplate today’s commentary, consider this dictionary definition of slave:

“A device that is directly responsive to another, such as a printer to a computer.”

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Thoughts of Awakening # 152

Be calm in the midst of turmoil.
This is the first step of surrender.

One who is not calm
cannot surrender,
because one who is not calm
cannot hear the Voice of his lord.

To be calm,
remember that you want to surrender.

This helps,
because you will also remember
that you cannot surrender
when your ears are tuned
to the voice of fear and turmoil.

~From our Holy Spirit

For the next several days, we will take a break from NTI to read and contemplate commentaries that support the current day’s Thought of Awakening. The commentaries are from Thoughts of Awakening: 365 Thoughts for Contemplation.

Please read and contemplate each commentary deeply, in the same way that you read and contemplate the Thought of Awakening. Each commentary is a gem in the treasure chest of spiritual wisdom.

~Commentary on the Inner Guiding Force~

 The inner guiding force is birthed from silence, which means “not thinking.” It is described as a prodding or nudging, because it moves to action without reason or justification. It leads to non-action without telling why.

The inner guiding force is a guiding force and not a forcing force, because the guiding force requires (or respects) your cooperation. It does not ask of you that which you do not want to give, and if you want to give what it does not ask, it surrenders and rearranges itself in response to you. It this way, it is a perfect leader, because it leads as it would have you follow and it follows as it would have you lead.

The inner guiding force is discussed as if it is a separate force, but it cannot be. It is the perfect attunement of the allness as oneness, because the oneness is allness and the allness is one.

You cannot go against the will of the inner guiding force, because the inner guiding force provides in response to you. And yet, you cannot know the fulfillment of your part as the inner guiding force unless you listen as it listens and act as it acts.

Through being one with the inner guiding force, you know yourself as one with it.

Through driving the inner guiding force, you experience yourself as separate, and yet you are experiencing yourself in a way that can never be true.

~From our Holy Spirit

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Thoughts of Awakening # 151

The inner guiding force
is the force of all knowledge,
all love
and all compassion.

And yet,
the inner guiding force
is not recognized by one
who thinks he has knowledge,
knows love
and acts compassionately.

The inner guiding force
is known by one
who knows he does not know
and can not know,
and so he surrenders
to that which does.

~From our Holy Spirit

Saina guides a group of committed students through year 1 of Gentle Healing who would like to make consistent, gentle progress toward genuine peace, joy, and love. This group meets weekly on Thursdays at 6-8 pm ET and all members are committed to specific assignments and practices between group meetings.

Listen to the Audio

Please note: it may be necessary to download the audio to listen to it fully.

FunPlay for the week:

1. Assignment A: ACIM Workbook lessons 181-187 including Regina’s tips. Practice daily awareness-watching-awareness meditation for 15-20 minutes each day. Practice the “Loving All” Method. Direct link to Regina’s tips: Click Here Practice daily awareness-watching-awareness meditation for 15-20 minutes each day. Practice the “Loving All” Method.
2. Assignment B: Read NTI John, Chapters 1-7, pages 187-197.
3. Assignment C: Practice the 30-minute ‘Introduction to Loving Consciousness Meditation’ at least once. You will find it at www.awakening-together.org under AT Audios, Meditation Audios, Devotional Meditation. Here is a direct link: https://devwp.awakening-together.org/introduction-to-loving-consciousness-meditation-with-rev-regina-dawn-akers/

 

 

Join us this coming Sunday, July 18^th from 1:30-2:30 pm ET for Reflections from the Embodying Truth: In the World But Not of It Retreat. Participants in this recent retreat will openly share about learning to live from spiritual knowledge, looking at what they value and assessing whether those values are aligned with their spiritual desire, and learning how to bring their values and spiritual desire together into one strong foundation to actually live, speak and act from. All are welcome to join, ask questions, and listen to participant reflections from this powerful retreat. Anne Blanchard will be the facilitator for this program.