It’s Baa-aack!

Every New Year’s Eve, my church has what’s called a Bowl Burning Service.

It works like this:

About two hours prior to the beginning of our service, we take time during a potluck supper to write a letter to ourselves describing how our lives will look in six months and address it to ourselves. The church, in turn, mails it to us at the end of June.

This was my first year attending but other Bowl Burning Service veterans assured me that when they received their letters six months down the road, they were astonished at their accuracy. They even noted that things they had forgotten they asked for showed up just as they’d requested.

As we all know, however, the desires of our hearts can only come to us by letting go of everything that could potentially be blocking the way. So along with our letter describing our future, we also write a list of everything we want to leave behind and place it in a clay pot where it is burned (ergo, Bowl Burning Service J)

I thought long and hard about this exercise before New Year’s Eve arrived and even prepared a couple of drafts ahead of time.

Fast forward to my Gratitude Experiment in January and my Lenten Lessons begun a few weeks ago and I suppose I am receiving just what I asked for – an adventure I couldn’t have anticipated and am increasingly, absolutely falling in love with.

The book I have been using for my Lenten Lessons really wasn’t doing it for me (Charles Fillmore’s Keep a True Lent) but I persisted because I had learned a huge lesson from my Gratitude Experiment: there is value in showing up, sticking to a commitment, “just doing it.”

Even – no, especially when I didn’t feel like it.

And that’s when, once again, serendipity stepped in and the Universe gave me a reward for my faithfulness.

The Magic, the third offering by Rhonda Byrne (author of The Secret and The Power), was one of those books I intended to get at some point (being a "nerdy wordie" and all) but I wasn’t breakin’ down any doors, know what I mean? But there I was, in my element (the book store). And there it was. I mean I wasn’t even looking for it! But when I saw there was only one copy left on the shelf (!), I decided to at least leaf through it to see if it was indeed just for me.

And it was.

 In The Magic, Ms. Byrne speaks of experiencing magic in our lives on a daily basis – not hocus pocus, abracadabra stuff but the wonder, innocence, and expectancy that lights up a child’s eyes.

Indeed, Ms. Byrne notes, it’s us warped grown-ups who have it all wrong.

As she puts it, “…the magic you once believed in is true, and it’s the disillusioned adult perspective of life that is false.”

And what do you suppose her solution is for bringing this about?

You guessed it –

GRATITUDE!!!

It’s baa-aack!

But this ain’t no 30 day experiment, y’all.

This is gratitude on steroids.

Twenty-eight days of some serious gratitude lessons.

Just in time for Easter and beyond.

I write a lot in this blog about many of my experiences and all the ways I am growing and how much I am learning. But I am determined to make my spiritual study and introspection mean something.

I don’t want it to me hit-or-miss, up and down, maybe or maybe not.

Not like everything will be peaches and cream all the time but I am seeking a grounding; a centering.

I want to be so aligned with the Divine that love and gratitude and the peace of God are a palpable reality that oozes from my pores.

And let me tell you –

When you’re in that place, there’s no way the life of your dreams won’t be in full manifestation.

For then the Kingdom of Heaven truly is at hand.

So dig it - 28 days in Gratitude Boot Camp will outrun Lent and Easter.

But don’t forget that June is coming and, to quote the AOL man, “I’ve Got Mail.”