|
Invitations:
Strengthening our Connection to God
Dear Friends,
Free will allows us the choice to focus on whatever we desire. And what we focus
on, we end up experiencing.
A sense of isolation, of feeling lost, feeling that God is turning His back on
us - comes about because of our decision to focus on things that are not aligned
with our true essence / our God essence. The results are feelings of
disconnection and emptiness.
 Experiencing
our full essence and feeling fulfilled comes about by returning our focus to
experiencing, expressing and extending our true essence. When we do so, our
connection to God and all of His creations is undeniable. Being loving,
forgiving and charitable are examples of the expressions of our true essence.
Within our true essence are the gifts we came to express. Find issues and
activities that bring you peace of mind, purpose and joy, and you will be coming
into closer alignment with who you truly are. Become charitable in whatever ways
are available to you. Offer gratitude for every moment. When the ego demands
judgment, offer forgiveness. When the ego insists you worry, instead trust in
God’s plan for your life.
Know this, you may sometimes feel lonely, but you are never alone! You may
sometimes feel disconnected, but true disconnection is an impossibility. God
patiently and lovingly awaits your choice to refocus on Him, on your true
essence.
God has gifted us free will; the choice to feel connected or disconnected is
ours and ours alone. God has also gifted us the present moment. Thus in every
moment, we have the ability to choose again, to choose connection over
disconnection, to choose the valuable over the valueless, to choose trust over
worry, and to choose love over fear. Every moment allows us to begin anew. Offer
gratitude for this, and begin the journey of refocusing, expressing and
extending your true Source, the truth within you, the truth within us all.
The question & response (below) dives deeper into this topic. I invite and
encourage you to share your thoughts about this on
our Facebook page, and in the
forum associated with the question & response.
Wishing you peace, health, happiness, love, laughter and light.
Your brother,
James Blanchard Cisneros
P.S. If you haven't already done so,
we encourage you to go to the
You Have Chosen to Remember Facebook page, then click the “Like” button
(above the tabs and next to the title) which will enable you to take part in our
Facebook discussions and receive content from our Facebook site.
Please consider adding
Mailing[at]ChosenToRemember[dot]com
to your address book so that our newsletter Invitations arrives in your Inbox.
Question & Response: Does God Ever Turn His Back on Us?
I have read your book "You Have Chosen To Remember" and did find it
inspirational. I sometimes return to it when I feel lost. I know what you say is
right, but sometimes I wonder if perhaps I am just not doing something right as
I used to know that God was listening but recently this feeling has gone. Do you
think that God ever turns his back? Do you think that a person can ask too many
times for help with the mundane?
- Jo,
North Yorkshire, England
Response from James
 In
the story of the prodigal son, a son of a loving father left home, experienced
all the world had to offer and lost everything. He was ashamed to return to his
father because he thought he had hurt him. Yet when he came home, the father
welcomed him with joy because the son himself was his father's treasure.
God does not turn his back on any of His creations. When we focus on something
other than extending our true essence, then that’s where the feeling of
disconnection comes from. Our sense of disconnection comes about when we focus
on negativity, judgment, self-deprecation, worry and/or self-doubt. When we do
so, we are focusing our attention away from God, on inventions of the ego, on
illusions that we have taught ourselves are more real than truth. And so you
see, that feeling, that questioning, that wondering if God ever turns His back
on you, does not come from Him turning His back, it comes from your decision to
focus on something other than extending and expressing your true essence.
 When
we forget that we are here to express our true essence, there is something
within us that tugs at our conscience, and tugs at our heart and soul. This
inner tugging does not come from someone who does not care about us. It occurs
because someone who deeply loves us is gently reminding us that He has not left
us. He is reminding us that we have come to express our true essence, to be an
example to others that the light exists within us all. When we are focusing our
efforts on being compassionate in whatever form fits us best, when we are
focusing on being loving in whatever way we are most comfortable with, when we
are focusing on being charitable and kind in whatever ways are possible for us,
then we are extending our true essence, and reminding the world of the truth
within us all. When we do this, our continuous and uninterrupted connection to
God and to all our brothers and sisters is undeniable.
Yes, there are times when our focus goes away from God; there are times when the
ego tells us that judgment is a proper response, when forgiveness seems too
difficult to offer, when our well of compassion seems to have dried up. Yet it
is by experiencing these times that we get to remind ourselves of the futility
of such behaviors, actions and reactions. They show us what we do not want. And
by learning what we do not want, we come closer to realizing what we truly do
want. Herein lies their gift - they bring us back to refocusing on those things
that bring us joy, that free us from judgment, that bring love and support back
into our lives. Once we realize this gift, our response to them is gratitude and
trust instead of stress and worry. Now we can thank them for being part of our
journey instead of judging them and ourselves. All this - coming from those
moments where you once thought God had turned His back on you. Reflect this
truth, and through your example light the way for those lost in the darkness,
judgment and solitude of their own illusions.
Any time you experience feelings of separation, loneliness or any kind of
negative emotion know that you are not listening to God, you are listening to
the ego. When you listen to the ego, you are unwittingly choosing separation
from the Source over union with the Source. The ego has taught you
that it is possible "not to be doing something right." Again, God uses this and
all other illusions to remind you that the ego's demands are not real and have
no true value.
 We
are the creators of the illusions we cherish. We sustain the illusion of
separateness by protecting it and defending it as real. The ego’s illusions are
numerous - judgment, loneliness, fear, attack, sadness, etc. Thus it is up to us
to deny our illusions, seeing them for what they truly are. If there is one
certainty about illusions - it is that, in the end, they never satisfy our
needs, they leave us unfulfilled. Illusions exist only because we value them. We
value them by placing our focus and energy on them, yet illusions are false.
Therefore, their end result is emptiness, confusion, disillusionment and regret.
Thus do not place your focus and hope for fulfillment on falsities and expect
them to offer you truth. Falsities can only offer you emptiness. Follow them as
much as you desire, but do not be surprised when hopelessness does not offer you
hope.
When we choose to focus on illusions, we are choosing to hide from God. When we
turn our attention to false idols, we unconsciously perceive ourselves as not
valuable because our focus is on the valueless. We value the valueless, and
invest our time and energy on empty searches for hope where there is none, and
then we wonder why we feel hopeless. Unconsciously, we choose to turn away from
God because we believe ourselves not worthy of His presence, not worthy of
having a connection to Him.
 Yet
my dear friend, allow me to share that in front of God you will be unable to
hide. You may share all your shame and thoughts of worthlessness and He will
look at you through and with perfect love. You may try and try to convince Him
that you are not worthy of His love, and His only response to you will be more
love. Again you may share with Him illusion after illusion that you cherished
more than Him, and He will simply gift you even greater and greater waves of
love that will dissolve every shadow you gave a home to. My friend, there are no
shadows in Heaven. Neither the most expansive trees nor the highest buildings
have shadows. You may choose to look beneath your feet or behind you and you
will still find no shadows. Instead you will experience only God’s love and
light emanating from all, everything and everyone. This is what He offers you,
and this is what is available to you in every moment, even those you perceive as
"mundane."
God is in every moment, thus God is in what you currently perceive to be the
"mundane." Yet if God is in the "mundane," then the mundane must not exist. For
if in any moment, you were conscious of your connection to Him, could you ever
call such a moment "mundane?" To God, the mundane moment does not exist. Any
time you choose to join Him by asking Him for advice – He rejoices. Do you not
rejoice if your son or daughter calls you for advice or to simply say hi? Do you
not think that God can rejoice with equal or greater enthusiasm any and every
time you call on Him?
You don’t ask God for too much, you ask Him for too little. God’s will for you
is complete peace, love and joy. His will is changeless, forever governing
everything. God’s will for you, and your will for yourself are one. Your highest
will for yourself is His will, is His will for you. Thus He rejoices when you
join Him in your thinking, and for that reason it is impossible to ask Him too
many times for help. For when you ask for help you are simply asking for
guidance, you are realigning with God, you are returning home to Him, and He
will welcome you with pure joy.
 Any
time you are happy, joyful and at peace, know that you are consciously or
unconsciously listening to God, acting on His advice, and thus experiencing
union. Remember, you are always either listening to God or the ego, you are
always choosing between union and separation, between the light or the shadow.
Free will allows you this choice. In the moment, you can listen to God or the
ego, but not both. When you have the feeling of separation, that God is not
listening, know that is simply you choosing to listen to and focus on the ego.
Yet know this, the moment is yours to do with as you wish. Thus, if you truly
desire to join your Creator and follow your highest will, every single moment
will allow you this opportunity, to begin anew. This is God’s gift to you, this
is God’s gift to all of us.
If God is in every moment, then it is impossible for Him not to listen to you,
but it is possible for you not to listen to Him. How many times have you
experienced a friend talking to you, yet in the end you heard little or nothing
he said? This happens not because you don’t love and appreciate your friend, but
because you were placing your focus on something else. God calls on all of us,
but not all of us choose to listen.
When you think God has not answered your call, it is you who is unwittingly not
answering His. He calls to you in every moment, from every person, place or
thing. The love of God is in everything He created. Look with peace upon your
brother and it is God you are experiencing. Experience joy from a random act of
kindness and it is God whose gratitude you feel flowing through you. Help heal a
brother of sister from disillusionment and know that it is God who is leading
your soul. God created His son perfectly. Thus to remember your perfection, see
your brother and sister as He sees them; if you deny them their truth, you will
be denying yours.
It is an honor that you return to my book when you feel lost. But know this,
that what you are truly doing during those times is making a choice to return to
your own center, refocusing on your true source and essence, and you do not need
a book for that. For what is in my book was within you long before the creation
of the book. And what is in us, is in all of us, in all people, places and
things. In every moment, in every person, place or thing - God waits for you.
And when you remember this, abundant gratitude will become your response to the
moment, to every moment.
 And
so the present moment is presented to you, God’s eternal gift is once again
revealed. Return your focus to Him, extend kindness, generosity, forgiveness,
love, joy and peace to your brother and sister and you will experience your true
essence and connection to all. The love that is this essence is always within
you, thus always with you. There is never a moment where God is not. There is
never a moment where God is not within you, with you. There is never a moment
where God is not available to you, to all of us. Your sense of connectedness
comes when you are extending His expression. Know this, only you can choose to
deprive yourself of anything. Separation is overcome by union. When in doubt,
turn toward the light. Ask for light and learn that you are light. God awaits
your return to Him. Regardless of the journey you have taken, God awaits you
with everlasting love, patience and peace. Allow His sun to rise once again in
you, and in the light stand wholly unafraid. Allow compassion, forgiveness,
love, charity and joy to radiate from you. Allow God to raise you up, embrace
you in His hand, as a lantern in the dark, as an example of the triumph of the
soul. And your brothers and sisters will see and experience you as a reminder to
them that this same light, hope and possibility exists within them too. Become
an example to them that those who are lost can be found, that those who were
once blind can now see.
I will leave you with this very famous short story by Mary Stevenson. Any time
you question if God is listening to you, any time you question your connection
to Him, any time you feel alone and wonder if you’re not doing something right,
I want you to remember this story below. Your union with God is unbreakable,
your union with Him is eternal, your union with Him is available to you in every
single moment, from now through the end of time.
Footprints in the Sand
by Mary Stevenson, 1936
One
night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes
from my life flashed across the sky.
 In
each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets
of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one
set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me
always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed
you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints,
my child, is when I carried you.”
Poem: Copyright ©
1984 Mary Stevenson, from original 1936 text, All rights reserved.
|
We
encourage you to share your thoughts about this topic on
our Facebook page.
Or if you prefer, you can share your thoughts and/or read other people's
comments
in our
Forum
focused specifically on this question & response.
No need to register. Just share your ideas.
|
Top
Facebook
We encourage you to join our You Have Chosen to Remember Facebook site -
www.facebook.com/pages/You-Have-Chosen-to-Remember/175019012521802.
We would love for you be part of our Facebook community. Please consider clicking the "Like" button, as
well as "Suggest to Friends."
Top
StandUp For Kids
 All
of the profits from the book You Have Chosen to Remember go to the
charity StandUp for Kids, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded in
1990 to help rescue homeless and at-risk youth. To learn more about this great
organization, please visit
www.standupforkids.org.
If you are interested in making a donation directly to StandUp For Kids,
please visit
www.standupforkids.org/donate/default.aspx.
Top
Suggestions or Comments ?
We are delighted to be mailing out our newsletter called Invitations.
Click here to let us know if you have any
recommendations, subject suggestions or comments that you would like to share
with us.
Top
Home
~ Introduction
~ Table
of Contents
~
Chapter Overviews
Short Stories ~
Short
Movies ~
Activities
~
Inspirational Quotes & Stories
Reviews ~
Author Bio
~
Interview
~
Ask the Author
~
Message Board/Forum
Mailing List
~
View/Sign Guestbook
~ Links
~
Contact Us ~
Purchase Book
|
