Aloha,
I'm Reverend Cindy Palos and I wanted to talk to you today about grace.
Grace is a wonderful gift,
A beautiful gift,
And I have been feeling this grace that's been happening with me since my sister passed away about a month and a half ago.
And this grace has brought this amazing energy forth to me in a way that,
Well,
What I like to do is actually write a lot.
And so I've been writing down these words that have been coming and I've been posting them as I do on Facebook and some on Instagram.
This priest I know in South Africa has saw the words and put some beautiful,
Just heavenly music to them.
So in the course of one month,
I now have five songs and it's due to that grace,
Due to that grace that's present,
That spirit that's carried.
And I wrote this poem that I want to share with you called Spirit Speaks.
And I think we have to always listen because when spirit speaks,
Something else takes over that's a higher power.
When spirit speaks,
I listen and from the soul I hear light that carries frequencies that from God now appear.
When spirit reaches out to me,
I go inside that space,
The robe that has been offered holds such amazing grace.
There's a sacred chalice that is offered in your name.
This sacrament that's given to lift what words can't say.
When spirit speaks,
I listen and go inside that inner space where there's a way to connect and communicate and pray.
I ask dear Lord to speak to me each and every day and to inspire and lead me by messages you bring my way.
When spirit speaks,
I listen in great humility and wonder at the miracle that works so mysteriously.
So many of these words and words have come and I was looking up some powerful quotes that have been written about grace.
And there's some wonderful people.
Rick Warren wrote,
What gives me the most hope every day is God's grace.
Knowing that that grace is going to give me strength for whatever I face,
Knowing that nothing is a surprise to God.
And Brennan Manning wrote this about grace.
Grace is sufficient,
Even though we huff and puff with all of our might to try and find something or someone that it cannot cover.
Grace is enough.
So I wonder if you have had an experience about grace.
If you've had some special moments in your life where you felt that spirit speaking to you,
You felt that spirit come to you.
Spirit comes in many,
Many,
Many ways.
I feel it like a little breeze and energy.
It's invisible,
But I really can sense it.
I almost can touch it.
And when it comes to me,
It just really does,
Since I'm a person that writes things down,
I can just feel it directing what I'm writing.
So how has spirit spoken to you?
How has grace touched your life?
You might know the story of the song Amazing Grace.
Actually there's a movie out about Amazing Grace.
And if you haven't had a chance to see the story of the man who wrote Amazing Grace,
You really,
You really,
Really might want to check it out.
It's very powerful.
It came out in 2006.
And it was about the slave trade in British Empire led by William Wilberforce,
Who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British Parliament.
Now that hymn came out in 1772,
Amazing Grace.
And think of how many people have heard it.
It recounts the experience of John Newton as a crewman on a slave ship and his subsequent religious conversion,
Which is inspired by the writing of the poem later used in the hymn.
And this man,
Newton,
Was a major influence on Wilberforce.
If you get a chance to see it,
Do check it out,
Because it shows that power.
I mean,
Who would have guessed this could have happened right to this man,
Who indeed had his life totally changed?
We can have our lives totally changed.
It happens so many times that this power of grace comes.
And now when you think about how this song Amazing Grace is played at funerals,
It's played in so many places,
I can't help but think of the moment that President Barack Obama sang it in the church that time and everyone joined in.
It's a powerful force that grace was carried through that song.
So let's do a silent moment or two to get clear of our mind and to be aligned in our soul,
In our mind,
In our heart,
In our body,
In our emotions,
To go into a meditation that opens up the space for grace.
Breathing in spirit and asking spirit to come and be present.
Breathing deep and releasing anything that's there,
That's negative emotion that might be bringing you down any burdens,
Any thoughts,
Any darkness,
Just let it go.
Breathing in deeper and just releasing and feeling your whole body relaxing,
Relaxing,
Feeling that presence of spirit coming into your soul and feel that energy coming down into your crown chakra and let it clear your head,
Release any tension in your face,
Your jaw,
Your mouth,
Just letting go and releasing and feeling your whole neck just feeling completely clear and aligned,
Full of wonderful light and moving on down into your heart of hearts,
That space that holds that spirit and that presence.
Allow a deep space within your heart of hearts for the love that is present right now,
Right here.
This amazing grace is present in you when you open up your heart to the miracle of grace.
Leave a space for that grace to come in and feel it blossoming in you,
Feel it healing any darkness,
Any issues,
Any problems that you might have had,
Any scars and let that grace come down and surround your entire torso,
Your whole body and let that grace extend out,
Out,
Out around your entire body in a white light out eight feet.
See gold surrounding it and see a spotlight from the source of all light coming down and transforming this energy in you to this pure light of spirit right now.
Breathe that spirit in,
Absorb that energy,
Feel it renewing you,
Regenerating you,
Redeeming you.
Be in that spirit of light.
Be present in that spirit,
That great spirit of love that heals.
Release any old pains,
Any darkness,
Anything that needs to be released,
Let it go now.
Don't let it be a baggage that draws you down.
Instead,
Let yourself believe in yourself and in that inner spirit,
That grace of God,
That amazing grace that transforms you.
And now just feel yourself bathed in this beautiful light of grace and be in that sacred space of grace.
Breathe it in and now let yourself come slowly out of meditation.
Remember anything that might have come to you,
Any thoughts,
Any words,
Any feelings that you might want to write down,
Any healings.
Slowly breathe in again and just release any tension and say thank you God and so it is.
May the grace of God surround you and protect you always.
Thank you so much for being there and listening.
God bless you.
