Your Heart

Go and open the mansion of the soul; when you find the powers of heaven, you shall

sit with them.

- The Book of Coming Forth by Day, translated by

Dr. Maulana Karenga

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Where your treasure is there your heart will be. Your heart is a place of silence and communion. Your heart houses the secrets of your soul; the path of your destiny. Your heart covets your desires and places them strongly in your mind. It is the key of all you want to be. You must have faith in your heart and trust all that it says to you. Never betray your own heart or you will find yourself lost. Your heart is the gatekeeper to your soul. It will never judge you, never doubt you, for your heart knows exactly who you are. Keep your heart light from grief. Let it guide you in all your ways. When things are not as you know they should be, retreat quietly to the resources of your heart. You make your heart a mystery. You fail to ask its advice. When your heart is heavy about a matter, you believe others can lift you up. If you really knew your heart you would never doubt its value to you. God speaks to us through our hearts because all that God is, is love.

God is in the midst of us. Wherever We ARE, God IS.

Power and Plans

"Power concedes nothing without a demand."

- Frederick Douglass

Have you noticed how long hard times seem to last? And don't rainy days seem to go on forever? Do life's difficulties appear to multiply rapidly? When hard times, difficulties or rainy days appear, do you give them all your attention? If you are like most of us, you probably do. And like most of us, you give difficulty power. Nothing is ever as it seems. What looks bad today, can be a blessing tomorrow. Challenges come so we can grow and be prepared for things we are not equipped to handle now. When we face our challenges with faith, prepared to learn, willing to make changes, and if necessary, to let go, we are demanding our power be returned. Willingness to grow is a demand for power.

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Plan. Do you have a plan? What is your plan? Have you failed to plan? Can you carry out the plan? If you do not have a plan, what do you plan to do? Life is much too precious to waste time on wonder or worry. You can predict your life's alternatives now, if you take time to plan. Plan your moments to be joyous. Plan your hours to be productive. Plan your days to be filled with peace. Plan your weeks to be educational. Plan your months to be filled with love. Plan your years to be purposeful. Plan your life to be an experience of growth. Plan to change. Plan to grow. Plan to spend quiet moments doing absolutely nothing. Planning is the only way to keep yourself on track. And when you know where you are going, a path will be cleared for you. Plan to be all you can.

Your Gift

Use What You've Been Given

What gift have you been given? Perhaps it is the flair to entertain or inspire. Perhaps it is the ability to fix things, cook well, or serve others with a smile. You may be a "techie" who is great at finding solutions to problems or programming software. Maybe you have the gift of creating beauty, connecting people, or making others laugh. Whatever your gift, you have a responsibility to be a good steward of it: "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (I Peter 4:10)

Investing in your talent by learning, growing and positively impacting others illustrates good stewardship. Good stewards not only use their gifts and multiply their rewards, but they also take care of what they have been given, no matter how seemingly small.

Consider this: The gift of being able to recognize and show gratitude can transform a dismal outlook into one of hopeful optimism.

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