Title: Joy Within

Gender: Female

Age: Ageless

Sun Sign: Virgo

Chinese Sign: Fire Dog

Location: Montana and Florida

I was brought up as a Baptist but stopped going to church before I started college.  For many years I lived with lots of guilt and fear even though I mostly didn't attend church.  Fortunately I was also an optimist and I led a mostly very happy life….the guilt and fear was just a kind of background noise that was always with me.

About 15 years ago I started reading books by Deepak Chopra and Louise Hay and that led me to a local church that suddenly showed up near my house.  The weird name scared the hell out of me.  If I hadn't read that Louise Hay was trained as a Religious Science minister, I never would have had the nerve to even try it.

Now I smile when I think about it.  It's confusing, but the Church of Religious Science (now called Centers for Spiritual Living)  teaches the Science of Mind philosophy.  

After all these years of study, I firmly believe that the Science of Mind (SOM) is a really beautiful, congruent and inclusive spiritual philosophy .  I'm so grateful that it reintroduced me to my spiritual nature.  I  view the Science of Mind philosophy as the path that's brought me to where I am today, but it's never been a box that confines me.  
 
For five years I loved being a licensed SOM practitioner (RScP) doing spiritual counseling and prayer work.  When my mom died in 2007 I took a break and it took me a while to become clear on my next right step.  I felt like it was time for me to just “be” rather than “do.”  Last year I decided to let my license lapse and now I'm just plain Helen rather than helenrscp :)

My favorite SOM + Abraham-Hicks + Tao Te Ching + Eckhart Tolle and other enlightening discussion group is:
http://pods.zaadz.com/living_metaphysics

Before I started pursuing my personal spiritual path with Science of Mind, I was a computer programmer, systems analyst, a technical manager and (very briefly) a certified information systems auditor (CISA.) 

As a technical person, I thought that the physical brain was the ONLY source of intelligence.  After it became pretty obvious that my job had become toxic to me, I took early retirement.  I felt like I'd been hit by the proverbial spiritual 2 x 4, but through synchronicity I was led to wonderful spiritual teachers. 

To my great surprise and relief, I learned that my brain isn't the only intelligence I possess.  I learned that I am inseparable from a benevolent, over-arching intelligence.  This divine intelligence (or whatever you want to call it) is constantly available to everyone simply by entering the silence and turning within. 

We all have what we need already within us if we can become still enough to listen.

My spiritual mentors are from many wisdom traditions and also from new paths.  One of the reasons I have such respect for Science of Mind is that it's “open at the top.”  It's a philosophy that clearly acknowledges that no one has the one final answer…and that no religious dogma is a substitute for person spiritual insight and experience. 

I have great respect for all other paths.  My husband (the fisherman) says that his church is his boat out on the water.  Our daughter, Terri has found spiritual nourishment in both Al-Anon and Buddhism.  We celebrate with her that she's gay. We also have a daughter-of-choice, Janell, who lights our lives along with a wonderful daughter-in-law, Karen. 

In 2003, after my father-in-law died of Alzheimers (he lived with us for four years) my husband and I bought a little house in Montana with the proceeds from selling his house.  Now we get to spend  summers in Montana and the winter months back in Florida.  

We're planning to go back to Montana in mid-May, even though it's not something that our 3 (very spoiled) cats enjoy.  Somehow they just don't seem to like the adventure of a trip across the country in the back seat of a truck  :)

I'm grateful that I found this community where I continually feel supported and uplifted.  I'm awed by the wisdom and grace of the people I'm meeting here. 

It's wonderful to be part of the consciousness of Gaia and I feel the excitement reaching critical mass…uplifting the human condition by starting first within myself.

Member Since: Wednesday, April 18 2007

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