This year’s women’s retreat, “We Are the Light,” is filling up, and if you haven’t already registered, don’t get left out. You will not want to miss a moment of this exciting retreat with Deb Engel.
Here is what Deb says about the retreat: We’ll deepen our relationship with the light that we are, celebrate the peace it brings to our lives, and find new and creative ways to express it in the world. When you feel — really feel — that you are the light of the world, you open the door to all the love, prosperity, well-being, and joy that God created you to be. And you help others remember that they are the light, too. We all get to shine together!
Who doesn’t want to experience this in their lives? Register now.
The message this week flows right into the women’s retreat. The title of the talk was “Dare to Love Yourself” from the book Dare to be Yourself by author Alan Cohen. Just an aside: Alan and Deb along with Adam C. Hall co-authored a book called The Little Book of Genius: Miracles.
One of the themes from this week’s talk was to start giving yourself the love you desire. It is easier for us to give to make others happy than it is to take care of ourselves. There is a great story about Charley Thweatt, that many of us know, about this theme in the message.
For just a moment, think of what you would do or have done for other people that you would not do for yourself.
Another theme is learning to love and honor yourself. Another story is about Jai Josef’s who wrote the song many of us know, I Love Myself the Way I Am. Jai had two dreams that he hoped to enjoy one day with his beloved. The dreams were to buy a beautiful home and to vacation in Hawaii. He accomplished both dreams without his beloved beside him only to realize that the beloved was himself.
What cherished activities are you waiting to do with someone else or have someone do for you, that you could do for yourself now?
This theme is my stumbling block, although I am a work in progress: Dare to take time for yourself. The most loving way we can honor ourselves is to take time to nurture ourselves spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
Martin Luther said he spent an hour a day in prayer unless he had a very busy day. Then he spent three hours in prayer. The truth of the matter is: The busier we are, the more we need God and the more we need to pray.
That can be said about many things … like taking time to relax, to play, to spend time with friends, to enjoy life; if you are too busy to do any of these things, then you need to take even more time for them.
I love this! Alan says, “If you are such a person, you may be guilty of ‘resisting a rest.’”
A true story — after church on Sunday I went to lunch with a couple of friends … when they asked me to go, I hesitated for a moment and then remembered I had just talked about spending time with friends and went. Then I came home and took a nap because I didn’t want to be guilty of resisting a rest.
As always, there is much more on this topic, so if you missed the service, you can watch it here.
Next week, Rev. Matt Purinton will be speaking in my stead.
You are a blessing in my life,
Rev. Patricia Bessey
Labyrinths are ancient geometric figures. One leaves one’s worries and stress at the entrance and walks meditatively to the middle. As one walks to the center she/he becomes centered within her/himself, calmer, and more grounded. 
