With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
— Matthew 19:26

“Made a decision to turn our will & our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”

Don’t Confuse Me With the Facts

Have you ever had an argument with your inner voice? Have you ever tried to reason with it when its guidance seemed impossible to believe? The situation is staring you in the face, & you just know your inner voice is telling you to do something that cannot possibly happen. “How can I know the Spiritual Truth in this situation” you wonder, when the facts are totally telling you it can’t be done?

I was presenting a workshop in Long Island. My inner voice inspired me to have the group do an exercise that involved a great deal of walking from one person to another. I argued with my inner voice, “But God, I can’t have these people do this exercise. One of them is in a wheel chair & she could not possibly do the walking.” The voice within continued to urge me to do it. I kept resisting. “This experience will not only embarrass her, God, it will shame her in front of her friends!” But my inner voice was relentless. It finally got so “loud,” I had to give in. I presented the exercise, & you know what happened? The person in the wheel chair got up & actually walked for the first time in years! So now, I make it a point to listen to my inner voice (almost all of the time).

AFFIRMATION
Today I listen to the still small voice within me without judgment & honor it. I find that the more I listen, the clearer it becomes. My life is transformed into an amazing adventure, as I explore hitherto unknown regions. Look out world, here I come! Thank you God!

Rev. Dr. Rainbow Johnson
ADAAP Clergy Counselor

But [Lot’s] wife looked back from behind him, & she became a pillar of salt.
— Genesis 19:26

…let us forget the past & live in the eternal present of God’s happy smile.
— The Science of Mind, page 471

Release the Past

Some say you can’t love anything that can’t love you back, but I disagree. The more I love my things, the better they behave. I was really attached to Susie, my red Subaru, whom I had been driving for seven years. She always started up in freezing weather, in scorching weather, plus rain & under hailstorms! She had been to me like the law of the universe. All I had to do was direct her, & Voila!, she took me to my destination.

One day, I went out to the parking lot of my apartment building, & saw that somebody had backed into Susie, smashing her right rear fender. The estimated damage was $1,000. “Hmmm,” thought I. “That is practically a down payment on a new car.”

The next week, I decided to look at new cars, just to see what was on the market. Three hours later, I ended up buying one! As we were test-driving Sylvia (my new, metallic silver Ford Festiva), I began telling the salesman my feelings for Susie, my beloved Subaru. He turned to me & said with equanimity & Texas charm, “With all due respect, Ma’am, you just gotta release the past!”

I looked at him in utter amazement, for I had preached on that topic dozens of times. And then he followed it with the clincher, “Yup. You just gotta release. You can look at the past, all right, Ma’am, but just don’t stare!”

I stopped staring into the rear view mirror as I thought, “Thank you, Susie, for all the miles we have covered in this lifetime, & welcome to my new life, Sylvia. We have great things to do together!”

AFFIRMATION
Today I make a commitment to stop dwelling on the past. I joyously allow my vision to rest upon what is actually happening now, & the magnificent possibilities that lie ahead. And so it is.
Thank you God!

Rev. Dr. Rainbow Johnson
ADAAP Clergy Counselor

A Whole New Attitude

I met my old friend for lunch today (we do this a couple of times a month) & our regular waitress asked me how I was. Apparently, she hadn’t done that before, because her jaw dropped when I gave my standard answer: “I am wonderful & marvelous, simply amazing, & getting better, skinnier & wealthier all the time. I love it. Thank you for asking.” After a few seconds, we got to talking about it, & I told her that I believed that when we repeat our affirmations over & over, we begin to convince ourselves that they are true, & then they ARE true.

What are your affirmations? “I don’t have enough time.” “I don’t have enough time.” “I can’t do that.” If your affirmations are these or something equally negative, why not trade them in for something different. “I am radiantly alive.” “I am blessed in every way.” “Life is fantastic & I love it.” Pick one & say it every day when you look at yourself in the mirror. And say it when someone asks how you are. After a couple of months take a few minutes to reflect on how (or if) the new affirmation has changed your life. I know that if you keep at it, your life will change. Mine did.

AFFIRMATION
Today, I focus my attention on what I want to change about myself. I take each step towards my goal, knowing I am using my God-given gift of CHOICE, in a life-affirmative way!
Thank You God!

Rev. Dr. Rainbow Johnson
ADAAP Clergy Counselor

For this cause I bow… unto the Father… of whom the whole family in heaven & earth is named.
— Ephesians 3:14-15

The Global Family

There is one life back of everything. There is a Universal Spirit that is the origin of everything. This Universal Life finds an outlet in & through everything that lives.

With the advancement of technology occurring at breakneck speed, we are now completely aware of what’s happening in our world even as it is occurring! More than ever we feel membership in the global family, living in the global village.

My sister is an example of a global family member. She loves to play bridge. It is her obsession. Every day she plays on the Internet. She has one partner in Australia, one partner in Germany, & one in Japan. Although they do not speak each other’s language, they speak a universal language — the language of Spirit.

I once led a church service in a Shanghai park, possibly the first of this type ever in China. We began the service singing “It’s In Ev’ry One of Us,” Chinese children gathered from all around, talking & laughing. After the invocation, the children sat down, & remained quietly attentive throughout the entire service. After finishing with “The Peace Song”, the children happily indicated how grateful they were to experience the fellowship with us. Without knowing any English, they understood the universal language of Spiritual joy ! I felt as though we were all Divine Emissaries, sent to demonstrate the commandment, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Where is my family? My family dwells in every village, city, town, country, & continent of the earth. My family is “The Global Family.”

AFFIRMATION
Today, I open my heart & welcome into my life all my long lost relatives
who are members of my global family. I greet each & every one of them
with unconditional love in my heart. Thank you God!

Rev. Dr. Rainbow Johnson
ADAAP Clergy Counselor

Embracing Change, Positively!

Yesterday, lovely gentle rain. Today, sparkling sunshine. Things are always changing.
Life is like that, always changing. Perhaps a good question for us is “Are we?”

I know we are changing. Our hair is growing. Our cells are multiplying. Our weight is fluctuating. Our bodies are reacting to what we eat, what we see, what we hear, what we think.

A better question might be “Are we changing for the better?” Are we growing spiritually as well as growing older?

Are we responding to what we see, hear, & think in a more (spiritually) mature way, or are we just reacting to the stimulus? For most of us it is both. I often don’t recognize that I am reacting instead of responding to something until some time later. Once I do recognize it, then the challenge becomes to catch myself before I react the next time… because I am almost positive there will be a next time & another next time, until I get the lesson learned.

Once I recognize that I am reacting, I can plan my future response which makes it easier to avoid reacting.

AFFIRMATION

Today I am choosing to love the weather, & all the tasks that I have to accomplish, as well as those that will be left over for tomorrow. I am choosing to love all the people in my life. I am choosing to be more aware of those situations in which I react instead of respond so that I can change in a positive way. I am choosing joy & love & happiness! Thank you God!

Rev. Dr. Rainbow Johnson
ADAAP Clergy Counselor