Why is it that we have more faith that the pieces of a puzzle made by a company in Taiwan will all fit together than we have in the pieces of our life that are presented to us by God will fit together? One person chooses to put like pieces together first, while another chooses to put the edges of the puzzle together first, but neither individual ever really doubts that the puzzle will somehow fit perfectly. The edges in and of themselves probably have little to do with the main image or idea of the puzzle, yet without it, the puzzle is incomplete. In fact, although these pieces appear to have little to do with the main idea or image, they are nonetheless as important to the puzzle’s completion. In the beginning some pieces, even when they fit perfectly together, might not help you to understand what the puzzle is about; only in its completion can you appreciate the parts that at first seemed insignificant and pointless.
– James Blanchard Cisneros, Author of You Have Chosen to Remember: A
Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 55
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I graduated with an MBA from The University of Notre Dame, and asked myself, “What’s next?” I had studied enough spiritual material to understand, and more importantly, believe in my heart, that there is no such thing as a coincidence. I knew that a company that had been in my family for over 50 years could not be sold without my knowledge, in the middle of my MBA program, by coincidence. I laughed for a while, and told God that this definitely was one of His best jokes and that He really got me on this one.
In a deeper manner, I understood, and was grateful that He had freed me. He was offering me a respectable way out. He understood that I probably did not have the strength to deny my Latino mother and grandmother the joy of knowing that I was working in the family business. It would have hurt my mother and grandmother deeply if I did not pursue that line of work, and for that reason only, I would have stayed in the business regardless of any real sense of belonging there. God had taken the pressure off me. And for that, I was grateful.
– James Blanchard Cisneros, Author of You Have Chosen to Remember: A
Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 90
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Do you trust God? If you were asked this question, your immediate response would probably be, “Yes, I do trust God.” If you were also asked: Do you ever worry? Your answer would probably be, “Yes, I worry sometimes.” My friend, allow me to say that if you truly trust God, then you would never worry. If you choose to worry in any situation then know that you are not fully trusting in God.
Trust God or worry. These are the two choices that we have in every situation. Trust God and be at peace. Worry and experience stress. Our choices are that simple, and we make our lives as peaceful or stressful as we choose to make them. Trust God and be at peace. This is all that is asked of us. Yet, over and over again, we choose worry over trust, and make our lives a living hell.
– James Blanchard Cisneros, Author of You Have Chosen to Remember: A
Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 128
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And remember, there are two things that are more utterly incompatible than even oil and water, and these two are trust and worry. Would you call it trust if you should give something into the hands of a friend to attend for you and then spend your nights and days in anxious thought and worry as to whether it would be rightly and successfully done? And can you call it trust, when you have given the saving and keeping of your soul into the hands of the Lord, if day after day, and night after night you are spending hours of anxious thought and questionings about the matter? When a believer really trusts anything, he ceases to worry about that thing which he has trusted. And when he worries, it is plain proof that he does not trust. (15)
– Hannah Whitehall Smith, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life
Cited in You Have Chosen to Remember, p. 128-129
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You find no difficulty in trusting the Lord with the management of the universe, and all the outward creation, and can your case be any more complex or difficult than these, that you need to be anxious or troubled about His management of you? Away with such unworthy doubting! Take your stand on the power and trustworthiness of your God, and see how quickly all difficulties will vanish before a steadfast determination to believe. Trust in the dark, trust in the light, trust at night and trust in the morning, and you will find that the faith which may begin by mighty effort, will end sooner or later by becoming the easy and natural habit of the soul. (20)
– Hannah Whitehall Smith, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life
Cited in You Have Chosen to Remember, p. 147
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Knowledge that the perfection of the present moment is available to everyone all the time will fill your heart with an overflowing sense of gratitude and joy that even the most blind will see. Your heart will burst with rainbow-colored love that will touch everyone, and the judgment of your brother and sister will all but dissolve in its light. Your simple willingness to put judgment aside will result in the complete love of God flowing through your soul and not one cell in your body will be left untouched by His gratitude and love. You have dammed a once free flowing river, and as a result, you have not felt God’s complete gratitude and love flowing through you. But by trusting the present moment, you are once again putting your trust in God. Once you have done so, thousands of illusionary bricks will fall, again letting the river flow free. The river will overflow its banks, and you too will overflow with God’s gratitude and love. As the banks of a flooding river cannot contain its waters, your ego-self will not be able to prevent your Godself from extending and offering all that has been extended and offered to you. As you extend this love to your brothers and sisters, your gratitude and love toward them will grow. For as you extend love, so too will you experience it – its fullness, nourishment, beauty and purity. Simply put judgment aside and allow the present moment to be. If you do this, all your brothers and sisters’ colors, races, religions, beliefs, actions and reactions will dissolve into an ocean of gratitude and love so nourishing that peace of mind and joy will forever feed your heart and soul.
– James Blanchard Cisneros, Author of You Have Chosen to Remember: A
Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 186-187
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You might try to dim the light of your perfection, yet light surrounds you always, for I Am the Light, as you are My light. On occasion, you might choose to forget Me, but I know that forgetting is your way of remembering better. On occasion, you might choose to not love Me, but I sit with you in everlasting patience and envelop you with love, as I Am enveloped by love.
Do not choose to see Me with your eyes, or hear Me with your ears, for who I Am is who you are, and nothing else can surround All That Is. Never be lonely, my brother, and never search for Me in things. Do not search for happiness and love in that which you can touch with your hands or taste with your tongue, for you have already tried that, and where has that gotten you? Do not search for me outside yourself, for I Am in you, and I Am you. In times of insanity when illusions surround you, offer me an instant and sit in the power of your silence. Understand that I Am all that you need and that you are all that completes Me. For as you hold a place in my heart, so too do I live in yours.
– James Blanchard Cisneros, Author of You Have Chosen to Remember: A
Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 219
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You see, in the darkest moment that any human could experience, father made me smile and think of heaven. In the darkest moment in my life, when not a drop of sanity was left in my mind, when not a drop of love was left in my heart, father showed me heaven. He had, in that one act, expressed to me that I could see heaven in any action. Regardless of the physical appearance of that action, I could see it as heaven sent. In a moment’s time, I learned that God was in every action, that God was in each expression, that God was in each word, and that God was in each man. I learned that even in the scariest of moments you can see and experience God. Regardless of whether or not you thought you were in hell, you can still choose to see and experience heaven. Regardless of whether or not you saw your best friend blown away, you can still see God and the kindness of all men in one smile.
– James Blanchard Cisneros, Author of You Have Chosen to Remember: A
Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 222
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In any difficult situation, ask God with all your heart to let you experience Him and He will. You will experience Him not because He is letting you do so, but because you are allowing yourself to experience Him. You do not need His permission to experience Him. You will experience God, because when you so desire, you are shifting your focus from an illusionary state (a difficult situation) to the truth (God). Allowing yourself to experience this in one difficult situation will open your mind to the possibility that you can experience God in all difficult situations. Experiencing God in a difficult situation will turn the challenging situation into an awakening opportunity and gift. During the difficult situation, try to focus on God and His absolute love for you. Allow yourself to feel this absolute love. Let it flow through your body. Let it touch your heart. Realize that God is not there because it is a difficult situation, but because He has always been there. You see it as a difficult situation, but God sees only your growth. In the moment, focus on fear, or focus on God’s love for you. You have free will and it is your choice to make. In the moment, you can focus on one or the other but not both. The choice is yours. Choosing fear will offer you anxiety, stress, confusion, pain and regret. Choosing love will offer you peace of mind and joy. Choose as you will.
– James Blanchard Cisneros, Author of You Have Chosen to Remember: A
Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy, p. 240-241
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Footnotes / Acknowledgments
Every effort has been made to provide accurate source attribution. Should any attribution be found to be incorrect, the author welcomes written documentation supporting correction for subsequent printings. For material not in the public domain, selection was made according to generally accepted fair-use standards and practices.
(15). Hannah Whitehall Smith, The Christian’s Secrets of a Happy Life, Copyright 1999 (Baker Book House).
(20). Hannah Whitehall Smith, The Christian’s Secrets of a Happy Life, Copyright 1999 (Baker Book House).
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