Heart Thoughts

July/August 2008

Spiritual Discernment of the Heart

How many times in your life have you asked yourself the following question; I feel stuck in my job, career, relationship, friendship, my home, and/or my financial situation and I just don't know what to do?

Have you been faced with the dilemma of, “I feel clueless as to what to do next” and you find yourself waiting for a sign from the “Almighty.” Have you found yourself wishing that life would be a lot simpler if God would just text you an answer that would tell you what to do next because you're tired of trying to figure out life all by yourself?

Have you found yourself doubting your decision making ability, because when you look back on past decisions you've made in your life, you find yourself asking what “Alien” invaded my mind and was making my decisions for me?

Or have you discovered yourself seeking guidance from every family member, friend, co-worker, the clerk helping you in the grocery store, your server in the restaurant, your hairstylist, as to what step or direction you should take next in an area of your life you are unsure about.

Then, have you had this happen to you; as you are seeking and gathering advice or guidance from others, at the end of the day, when you gather all the advice and information together, it's all different. Which only leaves you feeling more confused then you were before you started asking for help.

So you start praying and meditating for guidance from your Higher Power, but you're not quite able to discern for sure whether it is your higher power or your inner-mind/ego that is guiding you in your decision making process. In your past, you may have had times you believed you were following your Higher Power's guidance, but something still went wrong.

Have you had the experience of believing you are doing what feels right for your life, but regardless of how hard you try, how much energy and effort you put out, you just don't seem to be making any progress?

Well, this is what it is has felt like for me since I have moved from the U.S. to Canada . I have felt like I have just been spinning my wheels and not getting anywhere professionally and this has created a very challenging and frustrating period in my life.

I have done lots of inward reflecting, meditating, discussing, asking, and listening to others on what do I need to do to serve my purpose in life, which is; “To make a difference in the World, by leading people closer to God.” This has been my guiding light that has been serving as the rudder to which I steer my life by for the last 26 years.

Everything I do whether it involves my personal or professional life, I use my purpose in assisting me in providing clarity on making important decisions. But I had arrived at a point in my life where I was stuck and I couldn't get myself unstuck. I found myself wanting to just give up and quit on life.

And let me share with you from my heart, this “wanting to quit” feeling “sucked.” Have you had this experience of being stuck in some aspect of your life and you just can't shake yourself free of it? This is the condition I had found myself in during the past several months.

What I have learned is that when I keep trying and trying and I find myself not getting anywhere, that this is life's way of re-directing me in another direction.

But I can be a stubborn guy believing that I can make something work if I just try harder, work harder, sacrifice more, or do it a little differently. But this time this concept was not working for me, I was not un-sticking myself and I was beginning to feel spiritually and emotionally constipated.

Being emotionally and spiritually constipated is another way of saying I had hit a “wall” that I wasn't able to see over, under, or around. The wall I am referring to is not a physical, external wall, but an internal, spiritual and emotional wall that was appearing insurmountable.

I felt stuck behind this gigantic inner-barrier and I couldn't pray my way over it, figure out a way around it, and or get advice from others on how to get through it. I was stuck in the emotional wasteland of spiritual discernment.

But what I believed would help me break through this inner-wall was to keep an open mind, aware that guidance and insight can come from a multitude of sources.

Sometimes insight can come during one's prayer and meditation time. It can come from a book, a walk along the beach, or during a conversation with friends and family. My guidance came during a gathering at our house on New Year's Eve with a group of friends, when during a casual conversation; a friend made a suggestion to me of, “why don't you start a Church/Centre?”

My initial unconscious/conscious response was, “no way.” But something in the back of my mind opened to the idea and the possibility of “Hmmmm, that's not a bad idea.” This suggestion of starting a Cnetre created a crack in my “no-way” consciousness.

So, the idea began to percolate in the back of my mind, and over a few months, which included a lot of prayer and more discussions with trusted family and friends, the original thought of starting a Spiritual Centre began to emerge.

Much the same way as a seed that is planted in the soil that takes a few months to break through the surface, the idea of a new Centre has emerged. So I am very proud and excited to announce that on Sunday, October 26 th , The “Centre for Inspired Living” will conduct its very first Sunday Service at; the Victoria Edelweiss Club, 108 Niagara Street, Victoria BC V8V 1E9.

A brand new and fresh purpose has emerged for the “Centre for Inspired Living” which is; “To serve as a gathering and meeting place of the Heart, where we come to experience the Divine Life force of Spirit/God as it breathes into our soul, causing our thoughts and feelings to be awakened, thus empowering us to live life fully.”

With each passing day an energy is building in myself and in an incredible group of fifteen others as we come together each week to pray, vision and plan for the “Centre for Inspired Living.” As a brand new Spiritual Community our Vision is; “To be an environment that inspires each individual in the awakening, realization, and acceptance that we are divine expressions of Gods Holy Love.”

As I was writing this article, one of the fifteen people that is helping with starting the Centre emailed me about a conversation she had had with a co-worker about what she was up to,

“So, this morning when I got to work a lady who is pretty spiritual and has been there all through this time encouraging and supporting me, checked in again with me when I arrived at work. So I told her about being involved in the creation of a Centre for people to come, blah, blah.  

When I told her the name "Centre for Inspired Living" she sort of paused, got this look on her face, and said that it had just sent a shiver up her spine.  That in her present life with her husband, who has a muscle wasting disease, this is what they have not had and need so badly right now, as he has now had to get an electric wheelchair and it is becoming overwhelming for them to be faced with this very stark evidence of the reality of his future.  He's only in his 40s.  He is a very spiritual person, and for them inspiration is a huge word, to be inspired, in-spirit.  So, she will be there October 26th.  There was hope in her eyes when there had not been.  Although she has done a workshop called “Haven,” there was nothing beyond to keep that feeling going. 

This Centre will be that place she said for her and her husband. Speaking of the Centre to someone, seeing the hope, need, reaction, and her amazement that a place like that could be here in Victoria , well, any doubts or questions in me about the importance of the Centre are done, gone.”

If this is the effect the “Centre for Inspired Living” can have on people before we began, what will happen once we get started? Maybe there is a reason and purpose for me in Canada after all; I just had to listen to my Higher Power, my friends and my family.

And just maybe this plaque that sits in my bathroom and that I read every day really is true, here is what it says; (I have altered the original writing in order to make it gender inclusive.)

“The Person Who Dares”

The Person who decides
What they want to achieve
And works till their dreams all come true,

The person who will alter their course
When they must
And bravely begin something new,

The person who's determined
to make their world better
Who's willing to learn and to lead,

The person who keeps trying
and doing their best
Is the person who knows how to succeed.

Find out more about the Centre for Inspired Living by visiting the web site

http://www.centreforinspiredliving.org/

In Love and Peace,
David Allen Jones

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