I’ve written in the past about me being far more a spiritual person than a religious one. I covered how I was grew up attending the Church of Religious Science, which doesn’t cram a strict set of precepts down your unworthy soul as it does proseletize on an individual’s partnership — 50/50 — with God.
Having said that, since my late teens my mother has kept me as a subscriber to a publication called Daily Word, a pocket-sized monthly magazine published by Silent Unity now in its 144th year whose main content is just what it says, a word or phrase for each day of the month and then a few paragraphs defining that word’s significance in relation to ourselves and God — and on countless occasions I would turn to the Daily Word and find direct significance to my life at that moment. In a way, it became my horoscope. I always made it a point at some time during the day to turn to the corresponding page and read it.
I think it was about the time I moved to Silver Lake in early 2002 that I got separated from my subscription. I nor my mom ever put in a change of address request. Occasionally it would cross my mind that I was no longer receiving it but I never did anything about it.
And to be honest, part of my lack of interest was that I’d noticed a steady move in its messages away from the spiritual and more toward the religious. Whereas for a long time I never felt as if I was being preached to, it became more and more obvious that was exactly what was being done.
Talking with my mom at the end of November shortly after I was fired, the subject of my subscription came up and I told her I hadn’t been getting the magazine for a couple years, at least. She remedied that immediately, and I’m January’s issue is face down on my desk, having just read today’s entry that I want to share because as has happened on so many previous occasions it speaks directly to me and what I’m presently facing:
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Exploring new horizons, I am aware of and refreshed by the diversity in life.Alternatives — The good news that we receive with an open mind and heart is that we are never stuck in one job, one place, or one situation. With God as our guide, we have choices. Divine wisdom guides us in choosing positive, life-affirming alternatives.
Knowing we can make choices, we refrain from any tendency to look at our day with limiting tunnel vision. As we scan the horizons that God opens to us, we consider alternatives that invite us to use our talents and abilities in new ways.
As we explore, we become aware of and refreshed by the diversity in life. What may have seemed unusual is revealed to be a blessed alternative. God’s way is our way.