Writing With the Divine:
How to Receive Your Own Guidance From God
By Michelle L. Casto
Smashwords
Edition
Copyright 2011 Michelle L. Casto
Everyday
Enlightenment Publishing
San Antonio, Texas
USA
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To find composure in the midst of change is to find nirvana. —Shunryu Suzuki
Writing With the Divine
How to Receive Own Guidance From God
Have you ever wondered why some people seem calm and confident even in turbulent times? Things may be literally falling apart at the seams and yet they are placid scenes of serenity. What do they know or do that you do not know and do?
They have discovered their innate creative writing ability. They use it and grow from it. Writing is the simplest, most powerful way to connect with your inner guidance system. You too can learn this amazing skill. You are already wired for Greatness and Happiness. It is in your DNA, and you, as part of the One Source, have a direct telepathic line to access vital information wherever and whenever you need it.
When you write with the divine, you experience clarity of thought and openhearted connection, and can manifest what you want more easily. You can get your most puzzling questions answered, delve deep into your true heart’s desires, and excavate those long-lost dreams.
This workbook will teach you how to have your own conversations with God, and is essential to your personal growth, so I highly recommend that you work through all of the journaling assignments and experiential activities. To learn life-changing material is more than just an intellectual exercise; it involves the mind, body, emotions, and ultimately your spirit.
Once you understand how easy it is to develop a writing practice, and experience the miracles abounding in your life, you will wonder how in the world you ever got along without this vital information. This spiritual knowledge will empower you to not just live a good life, or even a great life, but to enjoy a truly divine life, where you are fulfilling your manifest destiny.
P.S.
Throughout the workbook I will use the term God/Goddess/Source
interchangeably to represent the divine energy that flows though all
human beings. You can substitute any name that reflects your current
belief system.
Let’s get you started on the path to receiving divine guidance…
The term ‘soul’ means the capacity to experience life. —David Hawkins
Feed Your Soul
We live in a time when people are losing the ability to think reflectively and feel deeply, thereby also losing the ability to tap into our spiritual essence. We don’t take time for “just being” or pondering what life is all about. Most people keep topics of discussion superficial and safe. Long gone are the days of deep conversations about things that really matter, and in place are inane conversations about who won what sports game, the price of gas, or constant complaining about governmental policies. Our souls long for introspection and hunger for conversation, books, and writing that is meaningful and inspirational (in spirit).
Have you ever stopped to consider whether you are running life or life is running you? It is like who is walking the dog. If you are not in command, you will be pulled along helplessly. If you are in command, then the walk is enjoyable — you have a sense of direction and purpose, and there is even time to stop and play a game of Frisbee on good days.
Life can be a walk in the park, an out-of-control roller coaster ride, or something else entirely! It all depends on how you create it to be. You build your life with your thoughts, feelings, values, roles, goals, supports, and actions. You probably have a routine for just about everything important to you in life — eating, sleeping, working, exercising, etc. Yet, do you have a routine for your spiritual practice?
What are you doing to feed your soul?
Your sense of purpose and balance comes from developing spiritual intelligence, which positively impacts everything else in your life ten fold. Think about it-- how much better is love, work, and relaxation when you bring a sacred element to it? And when you are regularly spiritually fed, on the days that “life happens”, you remain strong, grounded and anchored.
I bet I know your first objection: “I’m not a writer.” So you say. But you are a writer already. There is no book you need to read or class you need to take to do this kind of writing. All you need is a heartfelt desire for self-understanding. The rest is easy-- just allow the words to flow through you, and write continuously without editing or censoring. You are actually more of a receiver of writing, taking dictation from a higher mind.
Divine writing accelerates your personal growth exponentially, because the simple act of writing your thoughts and emotions down on paper is transformational. Once they are out of your internal system, you are free to move on to your next lesson or realization. This creates space for more awareness and understanding to come through. With regular practice, you arrive at the place of ‘the peace that passeth understanding.’
You may not know what to do, but God Knows!
Wouldn’t it be great to have a guide with you at all times to test your ideas, help you through challenges, direct your desires, help you stay focused, calm your emotions, and coach you through life’s transitions? You already have such a guide. It’s your Inner Teacher or Inner Guide, who speaks to you through your intuition. Divine writing allows you to understand the significance of events as well as what to do about them, and to hold a consistent vision for your life. No matter what you are uncertain about, you can ask God in writing to guide you to the best way to handle it. Once you have the answer, you can be like your dog — curl up, relax, and take a nap!
Guidance = God U & I Dance —Anon
Know Your Spiritual Self
I read somewhere that the #1 spiritual problem is loneliness, and not just from missing other people, but from the feeling of disconnection with the cosmos. With all the outer distractions and time commitments, people are longing to feel meaning from the work they do, deeper connections with their loved ones, and more time to play and have fun. They are looking everywhere for something to fill them up inside.
But without a solid and loving relationship with the Divine, how much joy can you really experience from 21st century toys, travels, and technology? Not much. Nothing external will look or feel good to you if you do not look and feel good internally. The most important key to recovering a sense of meaning in a seemingly insane world is reconnecting with your chosen God or Goddess. There is an easy way to do this: writing.
To write is to shine a light on your own consciousness. When you are absorbed in writing, Truth travels from the heavens and visits your pen or keyboard. Writing gives you access to your soul and unleashes your imagination to allow you to see with new eyes.
The world has not changed, but the way you see it has.
Life has been compared to many things, one of which is a dance. In life, you can often feel like you are taking two steps forward and one step back. But realize that in spiritual development, that step back is just the time-out you need to see things from a new perspective. And either way, you are still moving forward on your path. The challenge may come when you try to control or force outcomes, which will trip you up every time! Remember that there is Divine Order, and everything has its perfect timing, reason, and season. Follow the river of life and allow yourself to be taken by the Divine Current. Let God take the lead, and life will be a lot more fun and fulfilling!
Are you following God’s lead?
Of all the aspects of our life, spirituality is the one that is most overlooked in our current, hectic modern world. This is changing rapidly, so your first dance step is to look within for the answers to your life questions. The Tao says, “If you want to find life, look inside you.” As a spiritual being, you are filled with life and love. It is up to you to get in touch with that part of yourself.
You must awaken to the realization that you are a spiritual being having a human experience. You can do this through meditative and reflective activities. Someone with spiritual wellness strives for personal growth and is willing to experience and find truths about life, wants inner peace, strength, and love, willingly evaluates personal values, and acts and lives in a manner that suggests that humanity is a vital part of the greater whole.
Do you feel as if your life has meaning and purpose? Do you feel connected to others and to a higher power? Do you accept and understand your place in the universe? Are you in touch with your spiritual nature? Do you know what moves you, brings you joy, or fills you with passion?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, you should feel blessed, as you have discovered what most people have missed — a sense of who you really are and how you fit into the world. If not, don’t despair. You can develop your spirituality and experience the kind of life that you desire. The first step to discovering your spiritual self is knowing who you really are. I realize that this sounds very easy, but I want you to stop and think about it. Do you really know who you are? What makes you happy? What makes you excited to be alive?
Many great thinkers of our time have struggled with these kinds of questions of how to find themselves, and know themselves. Know that you are not alone in this process of self-discovery. The psychologist Victor Frankl, in Man’s Search for Meaning, shares his experiences of living through the Holocaust, but somehow manages to find meaning in his life.
He eloquently said, “Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Therein, everyone’s task is as unique as his specific opportunity to implement it.” He certainly demonstrated his own belief system, as he survived imprisonment and went on to develop logotherapy-- a therapy technique that helps people discover their personal meaning. Likewise, each of us has a purpose, a point. We all matter. We all have things to teach, knowledge to gain, love to share, and lives to lead. It is your responsibility to find out what you have to offer the world.
Journal Assignment 1
Know Yourself! Write a 500-1000-word essay describing yourself. The goal is to find out what is important to you. Possible ideas to get you started are …
Who am I?
What do I like? Dislike?
What am I good at?
What are my core values?
When am I at my best?
Who are my friends/lovers?
Where is my favorite place to be?
What is my favorite thing to do?
What do I regret?
When was the best day of my life? The worst?
What do I believe in?
How am I creative? Critical?
There is an art of which everyone should be a master — the art of reflection.
If you are not a thinking human, to what are you human at all?
—Samuel Coleridge
Practice Active Reflection
The process of becoming enlightened about how life works takes considerable focus and attention. In order to make well thought-out, spiritually smart decisions, it is helpful to engage in active reflection. To be active means to focus energy towards an activity, and to reflect is “to ponder/meditate”. Active reflection is to invest energy toward your thought process, which will enable you to tap into your intuition. It is consciously thinking about what you do before you actually do it.
As is true with all processes, when new information becomes available, perspectives change. As your own life purpose unfolds, revealing more of what you may not have been aware of, your thoughts and feelings alter or change completely. Unfortunately, our thought processes can be much like a computer that shuts down. Most of us unconsciously choose to disregard relevant information, particularly about important aspects of life, like our relationships and careers — it’s as if we “shut down”. We become unable to process new information and/or move forward. What needs to happen is when new data becomes available, we immediately make a mental note and then check it out against what we already know. This allows us to analyze our thoughts and feelings.