Anne's Note reminds us that Joy to the World can be our way of making our lives EZier. The main article, From Eternity to Here, invites to us to live in the present. Healthy Living shows us how to Get Your Chocolate Fix with a Chocolate Chia Banana Shake. The Anne Talk, Buddha at the Gas Pump, is another great interview. The Featured Product this month is EZosophy: The Art and Wisdom of Easy or At Least Easier Living.

The EZ Mantra: "Everything can be EZ or at least EZier." – Anne Sermons Gillis

  A Note From Anne

Dear ,

Recently I spoke at Creative Life Spiritual Center. I had a logical, well-thought out talk prepared. I printed out part of an excerpt from my book to read and when I arrived at CLC, I realized that I didn’t have the entire printout. I mentioned that to Jesse, the minister, and he remarked, “Don’t worry; we just want you. Forget the paper.” At that moment I realized I had expectations about my talk and those expectations felt like a burden. I had a thought, “How about if I play hooky from my professional talk and just have fun.” A weight lifted from my heart. I was free again. I told the audience that I was playing hooky from my talk and that the easiest way to have an easier life is to do what you want to do when you want to do it.

This song is medicine for terminal seriousness. Life often is serious, but it's not all the time. Then I sang one of my favorite songs. It’s a familiar tune: Joy to the World, with Anne lyrics. Here’s the song:

Joy to the World

Joy to the world, the time has come, to have a little fun.
We frowned and frowned, our smiles are upside down.
We’ve been too serious, we’ve been too serious,
we’ve been, we’ve been, too serious.

We came to earth to have some fun,
and laugh and sing and dance.
We brought our light to bring delight,
and not be serious, and not be serious,
and not, and not be serious.

We lost our way, forgot to play, and acted like adults.
We worked and worked, forgot life's perks.
We been too serious, we've been too serious,
we been, we've been too serious.

We choose today to come alive
and joke and laugh and dance.
We pledge our light to shine so bright.
And not be serious, and not be serious,
and not, and not be serious.

Anne

  From Eternity to Here

Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Debra Kerr, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine, and Donna Reed starred in the 1953 movie, From Here to Eternity. A stellar cast brings a WW II love story to life. The movie won eight Academy Awards. We need a movie called “From Eternity to Here.” It wouldn’t be a story about a love affair; it would be a story that strips our mind of its demands and delivers us to the simplicity of the present moment.

The now moment gets great billing. Books about living in the now populate every seeker's bookshelf, but actually living in the now is a cozy concept that most people plan to get to in the future.

What is it about the now that is so elusive? What is more important than what’s happening in the present? It’s our thoughts. We love our thoughts. They are the Legos of our reality. We build our beliefs, thought by thought, and then play them relentlessly in our heads. These structures are our foundation, and everything we see, feel, and hear, filters through our belief systems before they are accepted as reality. These filters are the veil. They are the illusion of life. They fashion our reality and spit it out. It’s a virtual reality, not reality itself. We are not awake to reality; we are asleep. Even though the present seems boring, it is this moment that holds the key to enlightenment. Enlightenment is an elusive idea, but enlightenment is simply freedom from the mental and emotional tangles caused by speculative thinking.

In some way, everything in our lives points home. The twists and turns of daily life move us in the direction of peace, harmony, and freedom. The egoic mind eagerly jumps in and creates a detour. It guards each moment, creating content that knocks us off center and back into variations of panic, depression, or anger.

The egoic mind delays our freedom and, while this is not a problem when we look into eternity, it is a problem in our day to day lives. Living in our heads, following the horror stories, judgments, and fears, places us in the dust of life, not in the rich soil of our being.

In 1997 I met Gangaji. I attended a small gathering in Nashville, Tennessee. I was fascinated with this woman. She was a southern woman; she was a cheerleader in high school, was married and divorced from a doctor, the consummate success for a southern woman; and she was enlightened. She was free. Her life was no longer dominated by a recount of the horror stories of the past, nor was she slave to the promises of the future. She was present and at peace. It was in that meeting that I discovered the immanence of peace. It is now. Peace is ongoing and, regardless of anything happening in the world, peace lives now. This peace is connected. It is woven together by the warp and weave of love and compassion.

Enlightenment is freedom, but it is also the ongoing knowing that the kingdom is at hand, not in the future. This is the food of the mystic, a deep knowing that everything is okay and it will always be okay. The egoic mind lives on creating panic, urgency, emergency, and struggle. It is an emotional entertainer, but deeper than these amateur distractions, is the Source, the real professional, and we are a part of that Source.

The greatest contribution we can make to our lives is to reclaim our inheritance. It seems as if we never hear the reading of the will, Source’s will, which bequeaths peace to everyone. We can start on the path by making an ongoing, continual commitment to give up our ego driven suffering and to tune into the ongoing presence of peace.

The following agreement is one you make with yourself.

My Commitment to Peace

I, ___________________________, am willing to give up the ego driven struggle, stress, drama, and sacrifice in my life. I believe that peace is always available, and I choose to turn toward that immense ongoing reality. I understand that my Higher Self assists me in letting go of my ego and supports me in choosing and living in peace, with myself and others. I join the River of Life in this instant and continue to choose peace until I naturally let go into the ongoing of life and no longer need to choose. I am currently nurtured by a power that is much more powerful that my egoic mind, and I chose to serve this power in my thoughts and in my dealings with others. I am an instrument of peace. So Be it.

Click here to download a printable and frameable pdf of this Commitment.

Anne

  Quotes

"What’s the difference between a metaphysician and a mystic? A metaphysician knows that everything will be okay. A mystic knows that everything is okay."
— Anne Sermons Gillis

"What’s the difference between a Catholic and a metaphysician? The Catholic feels guilty and the metaphysician feels guilty about feeling guilty."
— Anne Sermons Gillis

"If you are poor you might still be able to delude yourselves into believing that if you have money, you will be okay."
— Eckhart Tolle

  Featured Product This Month

  What is EZosophy?

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  Healthy Living

Get Your Chocolate Fix with a Chocolate Chia Banana Shake

Chocolate is a feel good drug. It contains theobromine, which is similar to caffeine. So, if you are dragging in the morning, this drink is sure to pep you up.

• 1 banana
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of powered chocolate or carob powder
• Stevia, maple syrup, agave, or xylitol (to your own sweetness taste)
• Around one cup of coconut milk. I use the Trader Joe’s brand in a carton.
• 2 Tablespoons of chia seeds
  

Blend. Let sit for 10 minutes to the soak chia seeds. Add a little coconut milk if it’s too thick. Add ice and you have a drink that is almost like a pudding. Freeze it until it’s frothy if you want a healthy Frosty. As always, adjust the amount of each ingredient to your personal taste. You may want more chocolate, more syrup; own your food.

Let the ingredients communicate to you as you make your elixir. See each ingredient alive and brimming with light and life. Attune yourself to the ingredients and mix with gratitude. If you mix intuitively, your concoction becomes personal artwork designed for you by your body, and when your energy is aligned to your food, it is more easily digested and compatible to your energy body.

Anne

  Anne Talks

Here's another great interview, Buddha at the Gas Pump. It's a long one but well worth the listen. There's a video and also an mp3 file, which is downloadable. Time: 1:48:45

  Anne Art

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  Anne's Schedule

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You may reach Anne by phone at 281-419-1775 or click the button below to contact Anne by email. Anne is also available to officiate at weddings and funerals.