Earlier this week, I read an article on USA Today.com titled, Supreme Court declines new 10 commandments fight. It mentioned: the justices on Monday left in place a lower court decision that a Ten Commandments marker in Haskell County, Okla., must go.

Am I a little bit torn when reading the news?  Yes.  But, that’s my opinion as a life-long practicing Judeo-Christian.  Would I be offended if there were commandments or principles from other faiths?  No, I would not.

I’m fascinated by the beliefs of individuals whose faith is as strong – or stronger – in their religion as I am in mine. I’m always thinking to myself, I wonder what I’m missing? It’s become a part of my mission to know, understand, respect and very frequently incorporate concepts from other faiths that complement or strengthen my Christianity.

Although these markers and symbols are nice, we do not need them to live the principles without any excuses each and every day.

In my very humble opinion, having symbols of faith – 10 commandments markers, Stars of David, Christmas Trees, candles in windows, Menorahs, etc. – are visible signs of reverence or consideration for God.  When I see the Star of David, I immediately think of God.  When I see a crucifix, I think of God.  In that sense, each of these symbols is a reminder for me to incorporate God into each of my thoughts, words and actions on a minute-to-minute basis.

Do we need external symbols in order to make spirituality the central component of our lives?  No.

I think that too frequently, these religious symbols are much like corporate mission statements and value statements which hang upon the lobby walls at companies which no one is capable of repeating, much less practicing on a daily basis.

The 10 Commandments marker in Oklahoma is not about the marker. It’s a visual reminder to each of us of how to keep God central in our lives by following the principles given to Moses by God. As we’ve become much more religiously diverse in the United States and as certain groups have sought to ease God out of our public awareness, these longstanding and emotionally strong symbols are quickly being removed from public locations.

The objective of creating corporate mission and value statements is the hope and expectation that each person within the company walks, talks, and acts in accordance with these concepts.  If each person understands what they are and has assimilated the trait or principle into their subconscious mind then, the framed statements on the walls serve as visible reminders to employees and also point out to corporate guests exactly how they should expect to be treated by employees of this company.

It’s the same situation with the 10 Commandments, the Bible, The Torah, The Qur’an and every religious book or symbol.  The books and symbols are useless if the values and concepts are not lived and observed on a daily basis.  An unused Bible on the bookshelf is just as useless as the unused treadmill in the corner.  Each must be utilized frequently if we expect to gain any of the spiritual or physical benefits.

I do not Trust in God because In God We Trust is printed on the back of the one-dollar bills in my wallet.  I am oblivious to those words along with which president and any other symbols which may be on that bill or any other bill. I trust in God because of a seed planted in my brain about 43 years ago by my parents that was nourished during prayer prior to every meal at home and by attendance and participation at church 52+ times per year.

I learned very young that God was very important in the lives of my parents and my grandparents. Because my parents had always given me solid information in every other area of my life, I considered this knowledge to be very valuable too.

Faith is about the relationship that exists between you and God. It’s a feeling of effortless perfection that results from time in solitude communicating with your best friend. When this relationship is solid and the communication is flowing both ways, the result is a human with a sense of purpose and direction who possesses an unlimited supply of faith, hope and love. That endless supply of faith, hope and love gets replenished on a daily basis by staying connected to the Creator. The love that we receive is shared with God and with every person with whom we come in contact on a daily basis.

You know when you have the words of a song, or poem or jingle permanently imprinted in your mind?  Those words have become part of your second nature and were imprinted because of reading or hearing the words over and over and over. They’re a part of you. We can intentionally make the 10 commandments, the Gospels, the teachings of Buddha or any spiritual information permanently part of our second nature by repeating the words in our minds that we choose to live our lives. In order for it to become second nature, repetition is required.

The words imprinted in your mind and soul that you use to love God and each other can never be taken away from you by the Supreme Court or by any lower court. These words have come to us from a higher kingdom.  This kingdom is in your midst. Your mind, body and soul contain the emotions of the permanent markers that you use to love and serve every second of the day.

Within the world of Christianity, there is a song that has been indelibly imprinted in my mind for several decades.  Part of the chorus goes, And they’ll know that we are Christians by our Love, by our Love, yes they’ll know that we are Christians by our love.

Not by our 10 Commandments markers.

Not by our clothing.

Not by our religious jewelry.

Not by carrying a Bible around in our arms.

Not by our Christmas Trees in the front windows or wreaths on our front doors.

We’re called to BE and live the word of God.  We get to show it every minute of the day by how we love each other.

Do others see your faith in your words, in your actions and in the love that you show to others?

I was recently asked to be a guest on my childhood friend Rich Hancock’s radio show. During the interview, I was asked a seemingly simple question: Why do you read the Bible and study other faiths?

My seemingly simple answer: I don’t know what I don’t know!  But there’s so much more to it:

Although I’m reading at least one entire book every week, I can’t learn enough information fast enough to satisfy my lack of knowledge.  How do I explain this: am I simply thirsting for more information or hungry to learn what I haven’t yet in the first 48 years of my life?

Growing up as a Catholic in the northeast, I was never strongly encouraged to open a Bible at my Catholic grammar school or at home (or I didn’t pay attention to that wisdom).  We were taught by nuns and priests at school and we learned from listening to the scripture readings at church and from the priests’ homilies on weekends.

I thought that I was way ahead of the curve. Although I may have been, I was nowhere to being as close in my relationship with God as I could have been. I wasn’t close to being as good a person as I was capable of becoming.

Faith is relative |  Health is relative |  Wisdom is relative |  Kindness is relative

Reading the Bible allows me to understand the faith into which I was born in the context of history – from the Old Testament to the New Testament.  Whenever we’re truly trying to learn and change, repetition of key concepts and ideas allows the new trait or behavior to become deeply imprinted in our minds and being.  When we hear things in church or on the radio or television, we might say to ourselves, “that makes sense” but, do we imprint that information so that it becomes our second nature?

Most of the time (at least for me) the answer used to be no.  Many great ideas have slipped through my cranium because I didn’t write them down and repeat them so that they’d stick.

Whenever I am struck with a thought, quote or concept from scripture (or anywhere else) while reading, I immediately grab a 3 X 5 index card and write it down so that I can repeat the thought and assimilate it into how I think and act on a daily basis.  This process allows me to change and become the type of person being spoken about in scripture.

That is the whole idea behind religion.  It’s an organized way of teaching us how to live, think and behave in a God-like fashion.

I decided to increase my knowledge of other faiths because I realized that all of the major problems that we’re facing on our planet are the result of ignorance – lack of knowledge.  Many of the  problems that are going on in our world are because everyone is acting based upon the limited knowledge that he or she has and that knowledge is always incomplete. If all of my knowledge of God is related to Christianity, I am therefore ignorant as to how billions of loving, devoted people of other faiths have  come to know God.

Seek first to understand.  Then seek to be understood. Thanks, Mr. Covey!

I wanted to understand other faiths because it’s become very evident that there is a lot of fighting and killing going on today in the name of religion.

True knowledge of God will result in kindness, compassion and love – not in anger, hatred and killing.

The reason that so many people are so passionate about a particular faith is because it happens to be the one that they learned, studied and practiced since birth.  Because it’s the one that our parents or guardians gave to us, it must be the right one and therefore, everyone else of a different faith is completely wrong.

Is it possible to know God, love God, pray to God, listen to God and act in a God-like fashion incorrectly? I don’t think so.  I’ve come to believe that there are many ways in which we can deepen our knowledge of and relationship with God.  By studying other faiths, many things are happening to me:

• I am deepening my own relationship with God.
• I am solidifying my own faith.
• I am developing very strong respect and understanding of people from other faiths.
• I am developing very strong respect and understanding for people without faith.
• I am reinforcing the belief that there is only one Creator and that there are numerous ways in which we can come to know that Creator.
• I know that once we understand any differences that we have with another person – or group of people – that person is no longer a threat to us.

Fear is the absence of love

We’re threatened by the perceived differences which exist between us and others.  Any one who looks, dresses, worships, eats, speaks differently than we do is one of two things: This person is a threat to us and our way of life or this person is someone who has knowledge of things of which I’m ignorant and therefore is someone I can learn from.

Every person that you and I encounter has something that they can teach us (unless we’re know-it-alls!).  Each person is the way he or she is for very good reasons. Each of us is a product of our environment and education.

The more that I learn about people from every faith and from every culture and from every country is that we’re all the same.  We’re all beautiful sons and daughters of God whether we know it or not.  We’re all trying to make sense of today and this lifetime.  And if we’re very fortunate, trying to figure out the spiritual sides of our being which we’ll return to completely in the future.

We all want to love and be loved. We just show it in different ways – because we don’t know any better.

Seek to understand.  Once we do, we know that all people are good on the inside.  There may be layers of hatred, hurt and  anger which have grown on their exteriors which may cause them to be unpleasing at first glance. They’ve just grown those ugly layers to protect themselves from being hurt any more.

Inside each of us is the same loving soul that longs to unite with other humans and with God.

We’re complete and whole when we’re united with each other and with God. Until that happens, we’re all feeling incomplete.

My 16-year old daughter came home from school for the weekend and notified us that she’d forgotten her iPhone charger at school and that her phone had died.  She was forced to spend a half a day at work without her lifeline to the entire world.  She was lost.

Those of us who use technology of any kind know that if we do not charge the device, it dies completely.

That got me thinking about the parallel between technology and humans.  With smart phones and notebook computers, all we need to do is plug them into an outlet on a daily or periodic basis and the device will remain charged.  What’s the best way to charge humans?

For humans to be our best, we require three distinct sources of energy to run optimally – mental, physical and spiritual energy.  Ideally, we would recharge each of these areas on a daily basis. By remaining fully charged in each area, we’re guaranteed to operate efficiently for at least the next 24 hours.

What happens when we’re not properly charged? Instead of just shutting down completely like a phone, we begin breaking down in one or more of the three distinct areas.  For many people, we think that these negative feelings are normal.  They are normal feelings for humans who do not understand how to properly maintain themselves. They are not normal feelings when we care for our high-performance bodies like they were any of our prized possessions.

Physical break downs manifest with symptoms like excess weight, loss of muscle, physical weakness, high blood pressure and feelings of fatigue.   Mental break downs  show up in our negative self-talk, criticism of others, cynicism and destructive emotions.  Spiritual breakdowns manifest themselves when we’re lacking in faith, hope and love (of God, self and others).

People who cherish their cars wash the exteriors frequently (care for our bodies), detail the interiors at least weekly (care for our minds) and make sure that the engine is serviced regularly by an authorized dealer (care for our souls).

Why do many of us seem to care more for things than we do for our own well-being? I think that it’s just a lack of knowledge because we receive more education in school about language, math, history and science and very little about  how to care for our self.

On a daily basis, I see people investing time, energy and resources into their professions and into their families but, they neglect to spend enough time investing and charging themselves.  Neglecting our minds, bodies and souls on a daily basis is like heading out the door with a poorly charged cell phone.  We will only last for so long before we stop working.

Most of us know how long we need to plug in the computer or cell phone so that it is charged enough to service us for the day.  Do you know how long that it takes you to fully energize your soul?  your body? your mind?

Would it be unreasonable to allocate 1 hour in each 24 hour day to take care of yourself?  If you think that’s a large amount of time to invest in yourself, how much time do you spend working each day?  Would you consider yourself to be in peak physical, mental and spiritual condition?  Do you have any idea how you would perform every minute of your life for yourself, family and others if you were in peak condition in all three areas?

Technology comes with a manual that tells us how to care for the device.  Humans don’t come with a written manual so, we’re forced to figure out how to care for ourselves on our own.

Here is the short version of the Human Owner’s Manual:

Body: Congratulations on the choice of your earthly body.  The body that you’ve chosen has been designed to last for a minimum of 100 years with proper care. Below is the summary of how to maintain your body in peak condition.  Details can be found later on on the manual.

• Sleep for  6-8 hours each day
• Exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes each day to keep your body in prime condition.
• Eat 5-6 small meals every 3 hours so that you do not overeat from being too hungry

Mind:  Your mind was created as a receptacle to hold thoughts about yourself, others and about the beautiful world in which you live. Like a tape recorder it records literally every though that you have so PLEASE be very careful about how you speak to yourself.  You create your own self-identity with your thoughts.

• Spend 15 minutes (or longer) per day creating the thoughts that you wish to dominate your life.
• Convert all of the goals that you have into one-sentence, present tense affirmations and read them as if you’re sculpting the ideal being because you are.
• Try not to give sanction to the negativity in the world and please dispute the information that is coming your way from other humans and the media.

Spirit/Soul: You are s spiritual being that is temporarily making residence in a human body.  It is critical that you maintain your soul on a daily basis because it is your connection to God and to every other human in the world. The best way to maintain your soul is by maintaining a strong daily relationship with God as you would any other person – by talking (prayer) and listening (meditation).

• It is highly recommended that you spend at least 15 minutes per day in conversation with your Creator.
• 5-10 minutes of prayer for yourself and for others allows you to remain connected to the source of your spiritual being.
• 5-10 minutes of meditation per day allows you to silence your 60,000 self-centered thoughts that you create per day long enough to be able to listen to God. This practice will allow you to remain focused on your really long-term goals (after your life inhabiting your early body ceases)

By allocating 60 minutes per day to your mental, spiritual and physical health, you will remain happy, healthy and peaceful during your time on earth.  For questions about your mental, spiritual or physical health, please address your questions in the form of prayer to your creator.  All responses will be responded to on a first-come, first-served basis during your meditation time.

CNBC named Nance Rosen, “America’s Top Job Coach.” Investor’s Business Daily features her in their Managing for Success column. She’s a former marketing executive with The Coca-Cola Company, the number one most recognized brand in the world. She teaches business development and presentation skills on campus at UCLA. She speaks around the world to business audiences on the topic of Personal Branding.

Currently, she’s the Executive Publisher at PegasusMediaWorld, publishing gurus and manages the career trajectory of up-and-coming thought leaders.

She leads a mentoring program for young managers, called the Do-It-Together Club because “success is not a DIY, do-it-yourself” project. Find out more at DITclub.com. Visit www.NanceSpeaks.com for more about Nance’s topics.

Read her blog at NanceRosenBlog.com or follow her on Twitter @nancerosen. Nance’s new book is Speak Up! & Succeed: How to get everything you want in meetings, presentations and conversations.

Adversity is tough to deal with when we’re very strong.  It can feel overwhelming when we’re weak and vulnerable.  Eleven days ago I received news that made me thankful that I had built-up a strong reserve of internal strength.

My mission is to give people the tools to develop their own internal strength – mentally, spiritually and physically – so that they’ll be able to live the best lives possible each and every day.

If I haven’t said this lately, if I had to choose one of the three – and I don’t – it would be spiritual strength.

The knowledge that God exists and is dwelling within our minds and spirits is the strongest support that we can have in dealing with our every day realities. It is my faith that gives me the power to remain strong and focused during my life’s challenging times.

Having strong mental health means creating and maintaining a positive, efficacious  mind. It means that you’ve intentionally built a very strong self-image and are great at noticing each of the strong qualities in the people around you.

Maintaining a healthy body provides a peaceful home in which our minds and spirits can dwell for as many days as we’re fortunate enough to live.

With positive minds, healthy bodies and the spirit of God alive and well in our being, we’re positioning ourselves to be constructive souls across the planet. We’re also better prepared to try and understand our setbacks and the setbacks of those around us.

On December 3rd, I started receiving news from people around me that I love which made me thankful for God and my internal strength: my great friend Tracy from high school called me that day to tell me that his sister, my 47 year old friend and first girlfriend, Leah, had succumbed to breast cancer. Leah was happily married and the mother of two beautiful children. She was part of a loving family who welcomed me into their world when I was 15 years old and kept me there in their minds forever. Although Leah and I dated for only about a year, she has maintained a place in my mind and heart and will be there forever. She gave me her gift that will last a lifetime.

You and I have the ability to positively, negatively or neutrally impact each person  we touch throughout our lives.  It’s not the length of time we’re with someone, it’s the impact we have during the time that we’re given. Leah was very high-impact.

When Tracy called me to tell me of his sister’s death, I had just returned home from a 3-day business trip and was scurrying around trying to play catch-up.  At that instant, all of the very important things that I had planned for that day suddenly seemed very unimportant.  As I was listening to Tracy speak, in the back of my mind I knew that I was leaving the following morning on a 6AM flight for another 4-day trip.  I was petrified that I would be out of town during the wake and funeral. Tracy, Leah and the entire family are all very dear to me.

Leah’s funeral was held last Saturday, December 12th.  She was all I could think of that morning at home and at the gym.  I left the gym at 8:40 to make sure that I arrived at the church early.  My brand new car doesn’t have GPS and I made every possible wrong turn imaginable. Was my mind elsewhere?  Yes.  Instead of arriving between 9:15 and 9:30 for the 10AM funeral and relaxing in the parking lot, I pulled into the parking lot perspiring at about 9:50.

My compassionate friend Tracy came out into the 19 degree parking lot without a jacket, scarf or hat to greet his old friend. After signing the guest book at the back of the church and winding around the perimeter of the church in a long line of people, I found myself at the side entrance to the church which is at its’ front. The hallways, choir loft and church were filled with family and friends and every seat and space appeared to be full with the exception of the front 2 pews which were reserved for the family. I did not want to miss a single word of this service!  Out of desperation, I asked an usher if she had any suggestions where one person could sit. She turned around and pointed to a single seat just to the right of the pulpit. Am I lucky or had that exact seat been reserved for me by someone very special?

I was thankful to be seated on time prior to the arrival of the family into the church.  Once the family was seated, I realized that I had a direct line of view to Leah’s mom and dad, so I knew that I couldn’t look in that direction unless I wanted to break down uncontrollably. I’ve loved her parents for almost 35 years and couldn’t imagine the sadness that they were feeling if I was feeling despair and emptiness over a person I hadn’t even seen in 14 years. The last time that I saw Leah was at my Dad’s wake.

Leah’s beautiful sister Heidi spoke on behalf of the family.  Heidi looked me right in the eyes and gave me a big, radiant smile as she climbed the steps into the pulpit. Heidi then gave an uplifting message of joy as she spoke to Leah’s husband, children, parents, brothers, family, neighbors and friends.  Heidi wasn’t speaking to have us feel sorry or sad, she spoke to remind us how Leah lived – with smiles, light and humor and to invite us to do the same. She was a very bright light in the world who loved her family, friends, strangers and God.

The Episcopal minister was phenomenal!  It was easy for her to speak because she really knew Leah and journeyed with her during her  two-year sickness. She spoke of Leah’s concern that her children knew that she hadn’t given up on them.  Leah loved in life and she loved at the time of her death. She knew that it was time for her to leave her family and friends and to go to God. She was at peace with her awareness.  Her faith had kept her strong in spirit.

After the 55 minute service, I waited in a 30-minute line in order to get into the church hall for the reception. There was no way I could leave without seeing the family that I’ve loved so much for such a long time.  When I finally saw Leah’s mom, she gave me what might be the best hug that I’ve ever had.  The barely 5-foot woman hugged me with tremendous strength and held on to me for what must’ve been 60 seconds. Neither one of us wanted to let go.

I’ve maintained my friendship with Tracy over the years and had dinner with him on November 17th. As always, I inquired about Leah, his Mom and Dad and the rest of his family. Neither one of us knew at that time that Leah would be leaving us this soon.  We never really know when will be the last time that we’ll see, talk with, hug or kiss someone.

Wakes and funerals are always tremendous reminders for me to do those things today. I’m sure that’s what Og Mandino meant when we wrote in his book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, “I will live this day as if it is my last”.   What would I say to you if this were my last day with you?  How would I hug you?  How would I kiss you?  How would I treat you?

My life has been filled with one blessing after another. In my life today is a fantastic wife of 25 years, two phenomenal children, a loving, generous mother, two great brothers, a caring sister, numerous cousins, uncles and aunts and many dear and great friends. Each one is irreplaceable.

I felt a sense of tremendous loss when my father and mentor died 14 years ago.  I’m feeling a very similar sense of loss today over the loss of Leah. I’ve come to realize that there wouldn’t be any feeling of loss if that individual had not given so deeply of themselves to me. This knowledge allows me to be unbelievably thankful for the special time that I did have with them.  Those are the thoughts and memories that will remain with me forever.

Special people provide us with something unique that can only be given to us by them. It’s the thought of his love, her smile, his hug, her giggle, his voice or her humor that brings smiles to our faces and stirs happy memories inside.  To say that each of us is  unique is an understatement of great magnitude.  When you and I give our unique gifts to the world every day with such effort that we drop into our beds each night with nothing left to give, it’s a tremendous feeling of knowing that you’ve given all that you could to the world.  It’s a feeling that although we were not perfect, we did the absolute best that we could in everything that we did.

Each night before falling asleep I review the activities of the day and ask myself that exact question: Did I do the best that I possibly could in every circumstance throughout this day?  When the answer is yes, I’m at peace.  If the answer is no, I’ve already begun my list for tomorrow.

Only you can provide the unique gift of yourself to the world.  Your smile is unique. Your eyes are unique.  Your voice is unique.  Your spirit is unique.  You are you-nique!  Please don’t hold back. We need you to share yourself with us – today.

You cannot be replaced.

Your job can be filled.

There is no one or thing that can ever replace you.

You are truly special.

I miss you Dad.  I miss you Leah.  I’m looking forward to seeing both of you in heaven.

It’s lonely at the top.

It’s lonely at the bottom.

It’s comfortable and very crowded in the middle. It’s lonely there too.

People who have reached the top of their professions – athletes, politicians, CEO’s – sometimes feel isolated because they are leading high-profile, public lives in which they’re expected to be great, if not perfect.

The homeless people at the bottom of the social structure have ended-up there because of real emotional and/or physical problems or because important people in their lives have given up on them and they finally gave-up on themselves.  They’ve teen told that they were worth less at work or in a relationship and they’ve decided to believe that they’re worthless.

On a trip to Atlanta about 10 years ago, I arrived at midnight and took the train into downtown. Once the escalator took me up to street level, an african american homeless man offered to guide me to my hotel. He grabbed my rolling luggage bag and lead me down the street toward the Marriott.  We walked and talked for several blocks when it became apparent to both of us that he had gone in the wrong direction. I was very tired and tried to remain patient and kind.  In my head were the familiar words, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me”. We turned around and back-tracked to our original spot and then walked another quarter of a mile or so toward the hotel.

Because I had the luxury of conversing with him for a good 30 minutes that evening, I found out that he was a former vice president for about 20 years at a well-known, large insurance company. As a result of a divorce, he ended-up in a downward spiral in his mind that he allowed to impact his job and he quickly ended up as the lonely, dirty and homeless former vice president.  He was still smart, educated and very well-spoken but, you’d only know that if you were able to get beyond his exterior. All remnants of his former outwardly perfect life were gone.

Without his thousands of employees who used to report to him and without his wife and family and married friends, he found himself alone on the streets of downtown Atlanta.

As many of us have found out over the last couple of years, many of us are often one event away from financial, career or a family disaster.

Those of us who we deem to be relatively successful because of our respectable jobs, homes and families are fortunate to be surrounded with many people with whom we can eat, drink, socialize and commiserate with.  Even though we’re blessed with many relationships, I’ve found that the majority of them – even with family – can be superficial.

Many conversations and relationship sound like:

“How are things?”  “Good.”

“How are you?”  “Good.”

“What’s up?”  “Not much.”

“What’s up with you?”  “Same old, same old.”

Our real important pressing concerns are often left to be solved in the misery and silence of our own minds.  It was our own minds that created the problems in the first place. It might be beneficial to have someone else’s mind assist us in getting out of the problem.

Ultra successful people have reached that pinnacle because of a combination of their God-given talents and tremendously hard work. The lives that they’ve lead frequently cause separation between themselves and their families, friends and co-workers.  Highly successful people are willing to lead an ultra disciplined lifestyle that most of the rest of us are unwilling to live – long hours, study, practice, exercise, travel, diet, investments in businesses, etc. Intentionally or unintentionally, people at the top of the social and financial strata often isolate themselves from others.

Their commitment and dedication to their craft has caused spectacular success in one area of their life.  That success can sometimes cause less time to be spent in other areas – family, friends, community, faith, etc.

When you’re at the top of your profession, who can you speak with, rely upon and confide in when you’re in trouble?  Who can you turn to when you need or want to talk about your human realities of life – relationship struggles, business pressure or parenting challenges?

It’s taken me 48 years to finally comprehend that every one of my problems results from trying to conduct life on-my-own, separated from God.

God has always been inside of us. Either we didn’t know it, or we knew it but, didn’t develop that relationship or we’ve deliberately decided that we are smarter than God and don’t need any of His assistance in our lives.

Whether you are in the homeless, middle-class or top-of-your-field category, there is never a reason to feel lonely or isolated.  God is everywhere and impossible to ignore when we invite his grace, words and spirit to be a part of every aspect of our lives.

God doesn’t discriminate. He wants to be included in every aspect of our lives.

If each of our 60,000+ thoughts per day is focused on our thoughts about work, relationships and money we’re not allowing any room for God’s  thoughts and words.  When we fill our minds with God’s promises, our feelings of isolation are gone and God’s grace infiltrates our thoughts and every one of our actions.

Are our decisions better made with our thoughts only or as a result of a private consultation with one who has perfect thoughts?  I already gave you my answer.  My life’s biggest problems came about when my ego didn’t leave room for God’s thoughts and grace to influence my actions.

Athletes who are at the top of their game practice and exercise on a daily basis.

CEO’s have their own rituals that may include daily reading of periodicals, meetings and analysis of the business’ health by monitoring a dashboard that contains the vital statistics.

None of us is immune to challenges, problems and feelings of loneliness.  By including new spiritual disciplines into our life on a daily basis, we’re able to eliminate the feelings of despair and loneliness forever.

We can welcome God to be a part of every aspect of our life in several ways:

• Reading scripture on a daily basis allows us to contemplate God’s thoughts and ways of thinking, acting and living.
• Praying allows us to lower our egos long enough to welcome the thoughts, advice and suggestions of outside counsel whose thoughts are better than our own. Praying affords us the opportunity to specifically ask God for help.
• Meditation ensures that we take time daily to relax out bodies and minds long enough to silence our thoughts and make room for newer, better God-like thoughts.  We have to stop talking (or thinking) long enough to be able to listen.

Whether you live alone or with a big family. Whether you live in the wilderness or in a major city, you can always think comforting thoughts and rest in the faith that God is always alive and well and taking residence in the temple of YOU.  Your body is the earthly temple in which you can invite God to live with you. His grace will manifest itself as his words begin mingling with your own.  The Holy Spirit takes residence in every cell of your body and brings health and joy to every interaction that takes place.

Loneliness is a deliberate choice.

There is never a fear of rejection when talking to God. God is a phenomenal listener too.

Invite God to fill the hole that exists which is causing feelings of separation, isolation and loneliness.

When we invite God to live with us, we’re always guaranteed a party of two will show up for every event!

A Spark to Ignite Your Joy

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Thank you for your interest in this ebook, and being a part of our community of faith.

This book as a continuation of my mission to bring peace to the world, through the increase in wisdom and knowledge. We believe that peace will only come when each of us has peace in our own minds and hearts and when each of us is living a life of love and compassion within our own family and community on a daily basis.

Cultures are comprised of the collective thoughts of the individuals within a particular group of people. Groups of like-minded people form mini-cultures within families, cities, regions and countries around the world. Although our unique cultures are good and provide us with wonderful richness and diversity, we sometimes lose track of our commonality as humans as we focus on our differences instead of all that we have in common.

Peace will come as we spread the message of our spiritual connection to each human in the world. If each person is truly a spiritual brother and sister, it makes no sense whatsoever to continue practices, which cause us to hate, hurt and kill one another.

My primary strategy for bringing peace is to do it one mind at a time by increasing the knowledge of the principles of peace, love and compassion that are found within the world of faith. I believe that it is usually our ignorance on a particular subject that causes us to fear or hate another person or group of people.  Wisdom, which comes as a result of education, typically resides in the area of our minds that used to be taken up by fear and ignorance.

This foundation brings the best practices and wisdom from the worlds of faith and psychology into easily understood and simple practices that can be implemented on a daily basis.  Practices include reading, prayer, meditation, community service and the recitation of affirmations to slowly fill our minds and souls with loving and peaceful thoughts. If our thoughts are loving and peaceful, our actions will also be loving and peaceful.

Please accept this e-book as a small gesture of thanks for the role that you’ve played in communicating this message so far. I invite you to forward this book to every person in your family, company or school and entire network who will either benefit from its contents or assist us in spreading its message.

Peace and love,
Bob

You can download the free e-book here.

I thought that this might be fun break for a week of thankfulness.  Someone special gave me this, and I had to share it, as in its humor, it shares much wisdom.

A man is praying to God says  “Lord, I would like to ask you a question”

To his surprise and amazement the Lord responds, “No problem. Go ahead.”

The man then asks “Lord, is it true that a million years to you is but a second?”

To which the Lord responds “Yes, that is true.”

The Man goes on to further ask “Well, then, what is a million dollars to you?”

To which the Lord replies “A  million dollars to me is but a penny.”

“Ah, then, Lord,” says the man, “may I have a penny?”

“Sure,” says the Lord.  “Just a second.”

What do you think the moral of this story is?

Listen to this post!
 

My faith is based upon my unshakable belief that the Son of God came to earth 2000 years ago to show us the way to life, happiness and enlightenment. He came to bring us the knowledge of his Father in heaven and how to live whole lives that are full of love and peace. He lived along side of us to show us that we’re more than capable of living the way that he did.

He’s given us the secret sauce. All we have to do is follow the recipe.  Are you good at following a recipe or do you prefer to wing-it? I find that when I wing-it, my results are not consistently good.

He came to tell us that we were off-track. He didn’t come to reinforce the ways we were thinking and behaving, but brought us new and simple ways of thinking and living. He came to show us the path to becoming beacons of light whose love radiates throughout the world.

I was raised in a Catholic family and encouraged to live the Catholic life of attending church, praying, receiving the sacraments and serving others.  I lived at home during college and maintained these habits until graduation.

Carolyn and I got married when I was 23 and she was 20. We lived in a two bedroom condo that was on the campus where she was attending college. I don’t think that I ever entertained the thought of stopping the practices that had served me well for the first 23 years of life.

In every aspect of my life, when I learn a best-practice, I commit to adopting it and living it until I learn that there is a newer, better way of doing something.

I think that one of the problems with faith and God is that there is nothing new. It seems like God’s been around forever. Maybe if Jesus came back to earth again today, he’d be saying the exact same things but, with earbuds, jeans and sneakers instead of a robe and sandals. The message that Jesus brought thousands of years ago is 100% relevant in 2009. We either have to commit the time to learning what he said on our own or pray that a new, hip messenger will allow us to pay attention to his message and begin applying it to our lives.

Because Carolyn was a Protestant and I was a Catholic when we married, we made a decision that it would be easier to raise our future children with one faith and house of worship rather than two. Her preparation to be received into the Catholic Church caused me to deepen my faith at the same time.

As I look back, a seed was planted in me by my parents and like a seed from a mighty oak – it’s grown a little each year.  I can almost look back at the rings of annual growth in my faith like each of the visible rings in the trunk of a tree. With each passing year, the roots of my faith get deeper and the branches extend more toward the light.

Here is a high-level overview of some of the major milestones that added a new layer of growth to a faith that keeps getting stronger with each passing day:

• Faith from my parents – worship at church, prayer with meals, sacraments
• 8 years of Catholic grammar school education
• Participation in religious education classes while in high school
• Teaching religious education and confirmation preparation while a newlywed in my early twenties
• Carolyn and I were facilitators in marriage preparation programs for engaged couples for the first several years of our marriage
• Becoming a Eucharistic Minister (distribute Holy Communion at Mass and to the homebound)
• Participation in the sacraments for our two children – Baptism, Holy Communion, Reconciliation and Confirmation
• Becoming a Lector (reader of scripture at Mass)
• Studying the Bible and other faiths

While growing up in our family of six (two brothers and a sister),  participation in the practices of our faith wasn’t a choice.  It was something that was made mandatory by my parents as something that was essential to living life.  It was a requirement for my brothers, sister and I just like we were required to attend school.

This is what faith means to me at this stage of my progress:

• I believe that God created the world and is still present in all of life today.
• The spirit of God dwells within each of us. We get to decide whether or not that spirit has a leading role in our life or is an understudy who never gets on the stage,
• I believe that he sent his Son Jesus to give us the recipe for how to live life.
• I believe that we need a relationship with God just like children need their parent or guardian growing up.
• When I was growing up, my parents served as mentors – people I aspired to be like.
• As I got older, I developed mentors within the workplace and people who were best-in-class within their fields.
• Today, I use Jesus as the mentor to emulate. I base my thoughts and actions upon his words, actions and miracles.
• I believe that after Jesus spent his time on earth, he and his Father sent us the Holy Spirit to live and dwell inside each of us to assist us on a daily basis and to reinforce our faith. I know that I’m never alone. I know that the Spirit of God has made a permanent residence inside the temple of Bob.
• If I were to sum up the message that Jesus brought us in one word it would be Love. We’re called to love ourselves, love our neighbors and love our Father in heaven.
• Reading and meditating upon the New Testament allows us to fill our minds with God’s words, which reinforce His love for us and promise to always believe and trust in Him.
• The words of God give us clear advice on how to interact and establish rapport with our 6.7 billion neighbors:
• Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you
• To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also
• Give to everyone who begs from you
• Do so unto others as you wish they would do to you
• Do good and lend and expect nothing in return
• Show mercy to others
• Judge not, and you will not be judged
• Condemn not, and you will not be condemned
• Forgive and you will be forgiven
• Give and it will be given to you

People who take care of their bodies knows that it requires daily discipline. For many of us it includes exercise, attention to the quantity and quality of food consumed and proper amounts of sleep.  We spend a lot of time maintaining a piece of our being that will only be with us while we’re on earth.  Our bodies are the temporary dwelling places for our spirit.

When we come to the awareness that our spirit will be with us forever – long after our physical body has decided that its has given us all that it’s capable of giving – we’ll start devoting a significant amount of time to the development of our spirit and to increasing our knowledge of and relationship with God.

Enlightenment – living with the light of God within us – is supposed to happen while we’re on earth. The earlier in our life that we choose to live with and within this light, the happier our lives will be.

As this faith in God and relationship with God is developed and nourished, we come to understand that when working in alignment with God – the source of all creation – there is nothing that you and I cannot accomplish. When working alone, life can be lonely, tiring and difficult. When working in concert with God and with the divinity within us and others, we know that we’re capable of miracles. We’re never alone anymore. Even when there is no other human present, we’re confident that God is present and happily living within us at all times.

I had faith in my parents when growing up. One of my parents has since died and the other is in assisted living.  My parents did their job by giving me all of the tools required for a healthy and happy life. Thanks Mom and Dad.

I’ve had a few credible mentors along the pathway of life. Somehow, mentors give us the knowledge and tools required to progress to the next stage of our journey. Thank you to each of my mentors.

I am working on a daily basis to manifest the lessons of the ultimate mentor. Thank you for the gifts of the example of your life, words to fill my mind and spirit that nourishes my soul. You are the mentor who inspires me on a daily basis.

Serenity comes from within.  External solutions to our problems only offer temporary solutions.

Recent college graduates with large loans to repay are desperately trying to find work and quickly losing hope.

Highly successful professionals are having trouble sleeping as the stress from being unemployed for several months is mounting at a time when their spouses are worried about losing everything – including their homes.

Financial planners are dealing with unprecedented anxiety resulting from the hostility coming their way from their normally sane clients who are irate over losses in net worth.

There are many ways of dealing with stress.

Exercise is great for temporarily reducing stress because it allows us to take our minds off of problems while getting our heart rates elevated and sweating out toxins.  Some of my best ideas are created while at the gym exercising and mentally preparing for the days, weeks and months ahead.  If I could exercise all day, I might be able to permanently eliminate fear.

Recitation of affirmations (statements of fact or belief) is another great habit because it allows us to fill our minds with the kinds of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives. The repetition of our goals in present tense, sentences full of emotion enables us to create behaviors and attitudes that will become  2nd nature to us.  When these affirmations are only based upon our goals and our ideas only, the mind of God is separated from our own minds.

If you’re exercising and reciting affirmations on a daily basis, you are already in the habit of proactively taking care of your body and mind.  Congratulations!

There is another habit that I’d like to introduce to you if it’s not already part of your daily routine.  I’d like to encourage you to begin the practice of daily meditation as part of your proactive health. This is a practice that positively impacts your body, mind and spirit.

Meditation is the practice of silencing each of the 60,000+ thoughts per day that we engage in long enough to listen to ourselves – our divinity within.  Meditation allows us to relax our bodies while we’re focusing or silencing our minds.  Deep, slow breaths begin the process of slowing down and becoming comfortable with ourselves and with the solitude.

You can meditate in many different positions. You can meditate while walking or exercising.  When meditating in the silence of your home, it can be done in the lotus position with a little practice.  I will frequently stop my work day and meditate while sitting in my chair in front of my desk for 5-10 minutes.  You can also meditate while lying on a couch or in bed as long as you’re not so tired that you’ll fall asleep!

The practice of daily meditation allows us to answer meaning-of-life questions such as:

Who am I? Why am I here? What do I want?
Where am I going? Where did I come from?

Meditation is starting to become part of our culture in the west, but is nowhere near as popular as it should be. Many of us today are absent of silence except when we’re sleeping. We wake up to the sound of the radio or iPod.  The radio or television is on while where preparing for work or school.  The radio or iPod is on while we’re driving or commuting. The computer is mesmerizing us for 8+hours per day at work or school. Those of us who aren’t married to the computer are either in meetings or conference calls throughout the day or having an affair with our Blackberrys and iPods. After work, it’s radio in the car, iPod while at the gym and television during dinner and then back on the computer or television until it’s time for sleep.

Do you ever allow yourself the luxury of silence?  Do you ever allow yourself to slow down and become silent enough to pay attention to your breath or pulse?  Have you ever slowed down long enough to answer the 5 questions above?

There are several different types of meditation.  Some meditations involve focusing  our thoughts by paying attention to our breath. When first meditating, we have to get used to the habit of not thinking.  The Buddhists call a mind that is jumping haphazardly from one subject to the next like a monkey swinging from branch to branch a monkey’s mind. By practicing focusing on an object such as a candle flame, light or object or paying attention to our breath (deep and slow versus shallow and fast), we become aware of the art of focus or mindfulness.

One of the meditations that I gravitated to when I was new to meditation and have maintained involves Buddhist prayers for self and others.  I use this meditation as a process for praying for specific individuals in my life who have either asked for my prayers or desperately need them.  While sitting or lying in silence I think of the individual and silently pray, “May you be happy, may you be peaceful, may you be free from suffering.” It’s also an excellent individual prayer.  With eyes closed after taking several deep, slow cleansing breaths, I repeat: “May I be happy, may I be peaceful, may I be free from suffering.”

This particular style of meditation really helped me to grow in the art of unconditional love. It’s easy praying for people that you know and love.  It’s still pretty easy praying for people we feel neutral about – someone from work, church or the gym – that need our prayers.  Buddhists would have us feeling unconditional love towards everyone – even people who have hurt us mentally or physically.

This prayer meditation allows us to pray for ourselves, individuals who fall into all 3 categories (people we already love, people we feel neutral about and people who we find it very difficult to love – sometimes called hatred) and for entire groups of people.  Can you imagine unconditionally loving every human in the world – starting with yourself?  Baby steps…

Another style of meditation involves the repetition of a word or phrase.  You can repeat words or phrases such as:

Love is the answer | Peace is within me | Patience | Don’t worry, be happy

There are meditations that allow you to meditate while walking or exercising. I’ve used the walking meditations while on an elliptical machine at the gym and been amazed at how fast the workout goes by as I’m lost within my deliberately focused mind.

One of the ways that I’ve been very successful using meditation is to slow down and relax my mind and body enough to be able to fall back to sleep in the middle of the night.  By the time I get to bed at night, I’m usually so exhausted that it’s very easy for me to fall asleep. Frequently, I’ll wake-up in the middle of the night on my own or as a result of an elbow (intentional?) from my wife.  Once I wake up, my mind frequently starts working and racing.  When it’s still too early for me to get up, I implement a meditation that allows me to relax my body beginning with my feet and then working my way up to my head.  I can’t tell you how much that practice has helped me to make sure that I’m getting enough sleep. Prior to implementing the practice of meditating to fall back to sleep, I’d frequently get up and begin my workday at 1, 2 or 3AM rather than stay in bed fidgeting and disturbing my wife.

I first began the practice of meditating after reading the book Eat, Pray, Love. My initial intention was to develop a deeper relationship with God. From reading that book and several others, I became aware that God is found in the silence of our minds. It’s our absence of thoughts that allows us to create room for God. It’s hard to listen to God when there is always loud, external stimulation present. My goal was to silence my ego enough to eliminate my thoughts and listen to God’s. Because I was guilty of the non-stop lifestyle that I mentioned earlier, I wanted to develop the habit of being able to listen to myself and to God. I realized that because I was always doing something, listening to something or saying something (even if it was prayer), I was never just being or listening. I was always doing.

Could my prayers be better if I slowed down long enough to listen for answers?

Would I be able to better deal with all that was going on in my world if I deliberately asked God to be with me in specially carved time for silence and co-creation?

Could I use meditation to really focus on words of scripture to understand the true meaning of words that I professed to be the foundation of my faith?

I mentioned students, executives and financial planners as real examples of people who are living with fear – fear of not getting the first job, fear of not getting a new job, fear of losing people’s hard earned retirement savings.  I’d recommend meditating on components of scripture such as the following verse: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.”

What could the meditation be for each of us to eliminate fear from our lives?  “Dear God, fill me with your love and eliminate my fear” or “God, I love you and trust you”.

If you’re experiencing fear in any aspect of your life, you can begin meditating this instant by simply doing the following:

• Go someplace that is quiet – office, bedroom, conference room, car, etc.
• Either lay down or sit comfortably in a chair with good posture
• Close your eyes and take several slow, deep breaths while allowing yourself to focus on your breath
• Once you’ve slowed yourself down and relaxed, simply repeat the phrase or mantra of choice such as “God, I love you and trust you”.
• Repeat your prayer or mantra slowly several times for at least five minutes
• Over time, you’ll become comfortable meditating for longer periods of time.

A close friend of mine recently told me that she felt guilty taking the time to meditate. I am convinced that it’s our absence of time caring for ourselves and divorcing ourselves from God that has caused many of our physical, mental and spiritual problems.

Our fullness and completeness comes from our relationship with God. The emptiness that we feel inside us and in our lives is created by the space where God is supposed to reside.  When we allow God’s words to infiltrate our minds and his Spirit to reside in our souls, we begin to develop trust in God and ourselves.  We are filled with love for God, love for ourselves and love for others.  The love that fills our minds and souls pushes out the fear that used to occupy that space.

Allocating time to meditate on a daily basis is an investment in your mental, physical and spiritual health.

Meditation allows us to become comfortable enough with ourselves to slow down, focus and listen to our own thoughts on a daily basis.  If you have the desire to incorporate spirituality into your meditation, this will become part of your daily practice to improve your relationship with God and proceed toward enlightenment.  Meditating is a practice that complements prayer, reading of scripture, serving others and group worship.

Making time to listen and co-create is yet another way of inviting God into your life each and every day.

Listen to this post!