The Remembering

If you’re reading this, you’re likely a seeker of truth. Life has a way of nudging us to look deeper. Much of what we know is shaped by family, religion, or lack of it, culture, and experience. That’s certainly true for me.

In my early years, my family attended the United Church, and I believe my parents genuinely wanted to live good, faithful lives. The new Bible study group my mom began to attend, opened her to new perspectives about Jesus and scripture. My father was slower to change—until he was diagnosed with bowel cancer. I was just a young girl, and my father was relatively young himself. Refusing treatment after seeing others suffer its effects, dad fell to his knees in his workshop and promised God that if he were healed, he would serve Him for the rest of his life. He was indeed miraculously healed, and dad kept his promise.

Our family began attending an independent charismatic church across the U.S. border. We became “the charismatic Christians” in our small community—noticed, and quite ridiculed. My father’s transformation was so dramatic that some thought he’d lost it. Yet through my parents’ influence, members of my dad’s extended family and many others embraced salvation in the way my mom and dad came to understand it through the Bible and how it was taught to them. This journey had begun.

For years, the Bible and its interpretations were all I knew. I believed it was the only way to reach God and heaven, and believed that if anyone died without being “born again” through Jesus, they would be lost and spend eternity in hell. My search for deeper understanding of myself, and life, began only when the life I had imagined started to unravel.

From a young age I had such a strong desire for marriage and a family. I thought this would be magical. I married at twenty-one. My husband was a pastor. Within five years I had four pregnancies; my first ended in heartbreak when I lost twin boys at five months. I grieved for a whole year. I also had many marital challenges right from the start. This led to a growing loneliness and depression that I struggled to really come to terms with or acknowledge or name. I remember crying in the shower, begging God for help after years of hiding my despair.

Help arrived, though not as I expected. Drawn to a book on the shelf in a book store that literally seemed to pop out to me which opened my understanding on emotionally and verbally abusive relationships.

I read it and wept as I recognized my life. That book led to others, then to seminars, workshops, and personal development courses. Eventually, I encountered beautiful spiritual truths I hadn’t known before.

I’ve read the Bible cover to cover and treasure much of its beauty, yet I’ve also come to see how human biases, omissions, and interpretations shape religious traditions. I was taught that Christianity wasn’t a religion and that all other religions missed “true salvation.” Over time my awareness has opened up and widened and changed.

I no longer believe in a literal hell and that we are born sinners, needing saving. Some might call this heresy, but I have found what the Bible itself promises- ‘the truth will set you free’.

The scripture says that we were “made in the very image and likeness of God.” If one really believes this then one has to believe that we were formed right out of God/Creator. It does not make sense that God would send part of Itself to hell.

Instead of blindly following this concept of hell, one could start to think for oneself and acknowledge how contradictory to the nature of God this is. If God truly is and has absolute ‘unconditional’ love for everyone, then nothing could or would separate any of us from that love.

With every beautiful insight I opened up my heart to, hope returned. I felt stronger and happier. My older sister had long shared her own spiritual journey and a broader understanding of God.

At first It was hard to put aside my years of doctrine, programming and conditioning to accept and expand my understanding of various Spiritual truths.

People in every religion, including Christianity, likely truly believe they are not indoctrinated and don’t see that they blindly follow teachings that don’t even make sense or even align to a loving, perfect Creator.

My sisters encouragement—to read, listen, and explore—helped open my heart. I am grateful to my parents for their faith in God and Jesus, even though my own understanding of both has evolved.

I have come to believe the great Spiritual teachers—Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, and others—didn’t have any intention to found a religion. They pointed us toward awakening to who we truly are: beings who are one with our Source and all things and able to live with “joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

My life, like many lives, has included divorce and remarriage. The first marriage carried deep dysfunction. Ending it felt like failure and went against the no divorce culture I came from, yet it allowed me to grow into more of myself.

My remarriage to my now husband has been healthier and happier. Today my three children are married, and I’m blessed with six grandchildren that bring me immense joy. Each of us is on a journey; I now want to give my family the freedom to find their own path in their own time.

The inspiration to write ‘The Remembering’ arose from years of learning, the guidance of many, and experiences that expanded my understanding of existence. My learning will never end, and I’m grateful for the awakening I’ve experienced so far.

Interestingly, the title “The Remembering” came to my mind very distinctly, and I had never heard of the terminology before. After that, I came upon hearing many people who used this very terminology, when explaining about remembering who we really are. This was such a sign to me that Spirit gave it to me; and so appropriately.

I hope is that this writing will encourage you on your unique journey and at least will give you food for thought about Spirituality.

My journey has been beautiful, challenging, and transformative. I sensed God’s and Jesus presence early in life and am grateful for that foundation, even though my Spirituality has widened from religion to understanding I have a direct relationship with the Divine as part of It. I no longer see Jesus as I did before but his influence and importance remains but as an example of a loving enlightened master teacher that came to help us remember who we are. His life and teachings help set us free to live a love filled life as part of the I Am expressed, just as he lived.

I’ve come to understand that having a Spiritual experience with Jesus or God or any Spiritual entity while part of a religion, doesn’t prove that entire religion “right”; it only proves we are Spiritual beings, who can intimately connect to our Creator and to all that is. Books and teachings—from the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita to courses, seminars, and various spiritual works—have served as wayshow’ers (guides) along my path. I expect the learning to continue in my life.

Teachers & Texts That Helped

• Lorna Byrne shares a lifetime of seeing everyone’s guarding angel with them and experiences direct sight and communication with archangels, angels and other spirit beings. Her witness—that angels pray with us, encourage us, and honor our free will—has helped me recognize the nearness of the unseen.
• A Course in Miracles (ACIM), scribed by Helen Schucman with William Thetford (1976), is a channeled dictation from Jesus. It is not a new religion but a spiritual curriculum pointing to our shared innocence and oneness.
• Gary Renard (The Disappearance of the Universe), also divinely directed, offered clarifications that helped many, including me, understand ACIM’s core message.
• Tina Louise Spalding recorded daily YouTube readings of ACIM’s 365 lessons and then channeled commentary from Jesus. Whether one accepts channeling or not, her reflections have helped thousands apply the lessons practically.

I’m grateful for these and many other guides; there are countless other books, teachings and teachers of Spiritual truths; too many to list. These have been invaluable to my awakening and understanding so far. The truths I’ve learned haven’t been a replacement for the Divine within but have helped me to remember it.

All over the world, there are millions of people awakening to these truths. Things are shifting for good in this temporal world, regardless of what one might be seeing on the news and in the media. If one focuses on the beauty and positive things that are occurring in the world, one will see more and more of these things. If one chooses to focus and put energy towards the negative, focusing on fear and uncertainty and the like, then that is what is attracted into one’s reality.

I’ve listened to countless NDE stories—from people of every possible background. These accounts don’t create doctrine for me; they confirm the core ideas in lived, heart-level ways and they change lives dramatically.

I believe with my whole heart that these experiences happen for our learning and our understanding of God, the Earth, showing us how to live life with purpose and love, and to value all people as equal and one with each other and all things.

Common threads people report in NDE’s

Across history, spiritual masters pointed to the Divine within, not to division. Religions are human containers—some beautiful, some limiting. There are many helpful paths. As with health and fitness, different approaches can lead to well-being; insisting there’s only one way isn’t accurate or kind and is presumptuous.. Let each person find the practices that deepen their connection to the I Am.

• Forgive quickly. Forgiveness releases us and future generations from repeating harm; it’s not condoning—it’s healing.
• Raise your vibration. Choose love, gratitude, kindness, and service; they make the Presence of the Divine love that abides within the soul, shine out to the world.
• Listen for help. Ask your guides/angels/loved ones for support; they honor your free will and respond to your invitation.
• Be with nature. Let Earth’s beauty and grounding remind you of oneness.
• Daily stillness. Prayer/meditation keeps the heart tuned to the I Am.
• Remember. You are already one with the Source of Love.

Use your creativity and abilities to be an expression of the unique creation you are; to thrive and feel fully alive.

Laugh, have fun and never lose the childlike wonder and enjoyment of life.

Namaste