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Living the Inner Mystery in the Outer World

I have been blessed throughout my life to know people with deep spiritual connections. I am talking about people who shine the light of God through their faces, who sometimes seem to not walk on this earth at all but to float above it. I wasn’t sure what these people had, but I knew I wanted it.

Believe me I chased after it with everything I had. Unfortunately, I was mistaking the outward manifestation which appears in some spiritual people, but not all, for the spiritual life itself. We are all created to be different and we are all called to live the mystery of our oneness with God and each other in our own way.

It is much easier to live this mystery in seclusion or a small group of like-minded people with nothing but time to devote to prayer and meditation, but this is not a secret we are to keep to ourselves. Jesus, the master teacher tried to teach us how to do this during his time on this earth. If we read the New Testament gospels we see that he often withdrew to spend time with his small inner circle or with the Father. Life in this world is difficult. It is confusing. It can be physically exhausting. We must have time to rest, renew and remember our spiritual connection which is always there, we just tend to forget from time to time.

So how do we do this?

Spend time alone in the silence every day.
Don’t get caught up in personality differences. Some people living the spiritual life are calm, peaceful and slow-moving, while others are more energetic and even fun loving. Some focus more on the inner life, while others are compelled to reach out to the world. There is no one form or model we all have to fit into. You are a unique manifestation of God for a reason.
Remember our thoughts are prayers and we create our own reality with our thoughts.
In everything you do, be led by love.

The way you live you life will have much more influence than your words ever will. Live the inner mystery — the outer world needs you.

Thought for Today

“Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don’t let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory.”
― Jim Carrey

Thought for Today

“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won’t need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining – they just shine.” —Dwight L. Moody
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/shine.html

Fun and Easy Ways to Shine Your Light: Celebrate the Hanukkah Story

Hanukkah begins at sundown tonight. Do you know the story behind this light holiday? If you don’t, you need to read it. The story of Hanukkah is full of adventure and drama surrounding events leading up to a great miracle. It is a story of liberation, freedom, reclaiming what was lost and hope.

Even if you are not Jewish we can all learn from the traditions of those who may believe differently than we do. So go ahead and read the story. If you want to try your hand and making latkes or sufganyot go ahead and do that too. If you have a copy of the Apocrypha check our Macabees I and II. For a brief synopsis of the story go to https://reformjudaism.org/hanukkah-history. If you want a more detailed scholarly look at Hanukkah visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah. For information on food and ways the holiday is celebrated today take a look at http://www.bhg.com/holidays/hanukkah/traditions/hanukkah-history-traditions/ And what would Hanukkah be without recipes? http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/454611/jewish/Chanukah-Recipes.htm

Thought for Today

“Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts. “ — Alan Cohen
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/shine.html

Thought for Today

“We all have life storms, and when we get the rough times and we recover from them, we should celebrate that we got through it. No matter how bad it may seem, there’s always something beautiful that you can find. ” — Mattie Stepanek
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/celebrate

Healthy Little Holiday Tips

From now until at least Christmas you will find daily tips for having a #healthylittleholiday on Twitter and Facebook. Please check these out and share them.

Also don’t forget my holiday book Have Yourself a Healthy LIttle Holiday with healthier gluten, free, dairy free, egg fre and reduced sugar recipes and celebraton ideas is available in the Amazon Kindle Store.

Healthier Holiday Sweet Potatoes

Orange Spice Sweet Potatoes
Photo Copyright 2013 by R.A. Robbins

Who needs candied yams when there are so many other wonderful ways to prepare sweet potatoes? Sweet potatoes are loaded with so many wonderful nutrients it seems a shame to load them up with refined sugar.

So here are a few of my favorite ways to serve sweet taters:

Simple Sweet Potato Soup is a great way to start the holiday meal. Beginning a meal with a light soup makes you less likely to over eat and this just tastes good too. The recipe is available in my e-book Have Yourself a Healthy Little Holiday.

Sweet Potato Oven Fries are good any time, not just at the holidays. Cut a sweet potato into wedges. Coat with a little extra virgin olive oil and spices. I like to use what I call “sweet and heat” with sweet potatoes which is cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Go easy on the cayenne if you’re not used to it. Bake at 400 degrees until they are browned on the outside and fork tender. You will need to turn them over as they bake.

Baked Sweet Potatoes are great plain, with a little butter, sprinkled with a little cinnamon, or I like salsa on mine. Or you can get fancy and make them “twice baked” by scooping out the shell and mashing the pulp with a little milk or juice and putting it back in the shell. Of course you can fancy it up with cheese, nuts, dried fruit — whatever, just try to keep it reasonably healthy.

Orange Spice Sweet Potatoes are my fancy version of mashed sweet potatoes. The recipe is available in my e-book Have Yourself a Healthy Little Holiday.

Sweet Potato Apple Bake begins with layering cooked, sliced sweet potatoes and cored, sliced apples in a baking dish. Pour a mixture of 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 Tablespoon molasses over the top, Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake covered at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, until apples are tender. With the sweet taste of sweet potatoes, apples, orange juice and a hint of cinnamon, you won’t miss the marshmallows.

So go out there and enjoy your sweet potatoes, just be careful what other ingredients they associate with. Don’t worry, they can still taste wonderful.

Please feel free to leave your ideas for healthier sweet potatoes in the comments below.

This post is linked to:

Sugar and Spice Link Party

Thought for Today

“Try not to get lost in comparing yourself to others. Discover your gifts and let them shine!” –Jennie Finch
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/shine.html

Fun and Easy Ways to Shine Your light: A Grattitude Tree

Take time during the holiday to create a tangible reminder of the blessings in your life. A gratitude tree may be made using a tree branch you bring inside. Try to use a branch that that has fallen on it’s own. Write things you are grateful for on leaves cut from paper, create a hanger using yarn or string and hang from the branch. Or tie ribbons to a tree or branch.

You could also turn your Christmas tree into a gratitude tree. Or save a tree and tie your blessings to a live tree in your yard. You can add blessing as you think of them and see how they add up or create a special blessing ceremony with readings, songs, prayers, poems or other things you find meaningful.

Of course this is a good activity to use with children. But don’t we all need to stop and remember how blessed we truly are?

For more information on gratitude trees visit:

http://showmecrafts.blogspot.com/2009/10/gratitude-tree.html

https://feltmagnet.com/crafts/how-to-make-a-gratitude-tree