The Anne Report, More "We," Less "Me", urges us to focus on sharing. The Main article, Goodie Goodie, reminds us that we always have a Good Generator actively assisting us in our lives. The Healthy Living article, Celebrate Earth Day on April 22, highlights the necessity of repairing our Mother Earth. The Anne Talk is Anne's video Happy Out of the Box Day. The Featured Product this month is Standing in the Dark. Click here to learn about Anne's newest book, Words Make a Difference.

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

Living EZosophy, April 18, 2017
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

Phone: 281-419-1775
Email: anne@annegillis.com

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  The Anne Report

More "We," Less "Me"

Dear ,

Last week we were in Galveston. Our RV was parked seaside in the state park, so I was able to spend plenty of time bird watching. I've noticed sea gulls and other birds before when at the shore, but this time they served as a primary entertainment. One gull had his territory staked. He flew above the water and intermittently dove into the ocean to catch some lunch. If another bird came his way, he chased it away. He chased one bird in the air and they had an air fight. This bird was showing every bird in sight who was boss of that territory. I had to laugh. What human-like qualities he had. He was not going to let anyone get "his" lunch.

We seem to have a lot of "my-itis" in our country. Once I was in a bus station in the Philippines. I was transporting a hand-carved walking stick. A child ran up to me, grabbed it, and continued around the open air waiting area, tapping people on the head. He danced around and then returned the stick. Everyone had a great time. If someone took another's property in the states, there would be a ruckus. We are like those gulls in Galveston; we guard our territory.

Mother Theresa once stated, "When a poor person has one banana in India, they break it apart and share, but in the USA, people stand around with a bunch of bananas and hold on for dear life." Just food for thought. I suspect that cultures that care and share, feel wealthier and safer than those who hold onto their positions and stuff.

For the most part, the Galveston birds seemed to be working together, flying in formations, bathing together, and eating together, but that one gull had a social problem. I hope I'm not like that gull. As the Easter season recedes and spring brings new life, may we all be more of a "we" than a "me." May we have the wisdom to know when to share and when to hold on, because holding on all the time is not acceptable.

That's all for this week's report.

Anne

  Main Article

Goodie Goodie

I favor the word "good." It is a word of great power. There's always more good if we are wise enough to open to it. Sometimes our good comes as a thought or idea. It may appear as an emotional release or a calm that appears amidst a mind storm. Good can come as a wonderful surprise, an unexpected opportunity, or as a gift, but the immediate experience of our good arises in the inner realms. Good feeds our souls and our deeper consciousness. Next, it surfaces in our mind, and ultimately the out picturing of our inner workings occurs in our outer world.

It is important to our well-being to realize that the power of good resides in each moment. Good is in residence at all times, whether we can see it or not, and it waits silently and patiently for our recognition.

It's easy to surmise, when tragedy strikes, that our good is nowhere to be found, but as we spiritually mature, we begin to understand the potency of a silent goodness that underlies all events. We know the sun is present, even on a cloudy day. If it wasn't we would freeze. So it is with our good; if our good were not here, underlying our existence, we would reside in some hellish realm of consciousness. Our minds rely on this ever-present good, even though we don't consciously realize it.

I prefer not to drive in Houston traffic. My husband prefers to drive; therefore, I have the luxury of being a passenger most of the time. Recently I had to make a trip that took me through the heart of Houston. My husband couldn't go, so I had to drive. The trip over was easy. It was early Sunday morning, so there was little traffic. I chanted "Om" for the entire drive, up and back. The one-and-a-half-hour return trip was another matter. Everybody in Houston loves to ride around on a pretty Sunday afternoon, but, fortunately, I "accidentally" missed one turn on the return trip, which took me on the road less traveled, where the traffic was light. Not only was the whole trip pleasurable, my body and mind felt charged from all the chanting, and I arrived home refreshed.

This is a small example of the power of good, but the most important aspect to recall is that the power of good is here right now, in this moment, ripe for recognition.

My friend, Rev. Thelma J. Hembroff, wrote a book entitled Not All is Good, but Good Comes from All. The book chronicles the tragic situations in her life. At one point, her husband took away her children. One night, as she lay in her bed, bereft over her loss, she had a vision. Jesus came to her and reached out his hand. She took his hand and he led her to a beautiful garden. He assured her that all was well and that her life would be made whole. While she was immersed in this sad experience, her good came as a present moment experience of the highest order; a walk with Jesus, one in which he brought her the gift of peace.

Not all experiences of good will be this dramatic, but, regardless of the degree to which we experience our good, it is vital we accept and call on the spiritual principle of good in our everyday lives.

As Emilie Cady points out in her seminal book, Lessons in Truth, "No person, no thing, and no circumstance can stand in the way of my good." This truth has seen me through bad relationships, financial downturns, emotional pain, and health challenges.

The following quote is excerpted from my book, Words Make a Difference. This affirmative statement is a seed to be planted in our minds. May it sprout, grow, and eventually blossom into more and more good in your life and in the world.

The Good Generator

Deep within me resides a good generator. The generator works twenty-four hours a day for the good in my life. The generator offers Good on Demand (G-O-D). My awareness of my G-O-D allows good to penetrate my world. Regardless of what I say or do, the G-O-D is working in my life. It is better for me to focus on my G-O-D than to worry about lack and negative future outcomes. I can drag my problems around or hand them over to G-O-D. Not all things are good, but good comes from all, and as I surrender all, my life is renewed. Good is my advocate. The dynamic flow within constantly creates and manifests my highest good. I can relax, knowing that the all-sufficiency is abundantly supporting my life and my affairs. I focus my mind on my heart center. My heart is a light-filled miracle factory of abundantly good activity. I focus on my heart light and it penetrates my mind, body, and life. Due to a radical shift in perception, I am free to experience the dynamic flow of good in my life. I expend this good to my friends, family, and the world. I can see the G-O-D generator working in every aspect of life. So be it.

It's time to rise up in our good and confess our miracles. Our good is near, always here, and it's very clear that we live in the midst of the infinite, always Good. Now is the time for our good, and when we recognize it, our lives are always EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

Quotes

"You meet your destiny on your way to avoid it."
-- Carl Jung

"I don't know why I am not in a relationship. I have so much love to give someone." Translation: "I am a black hole of emotional need and I will suck you dry."
-- Anne Sermons Gillis

"We have three things to do when we show up in a body: learn to subdue the mind, heal our emotions - especially the ones passed down from our ancestors, and live in the present moment."
-- Anne Sermons Gillis

"Nothing ever gets lost; the pieces just move around."
-- John Gorka

Affirmations

"I am going to the next level of what is possible for me."
-- Dr. Rev. Karen Love Baisinger

"I am a walking wellspring of wonderful ideas."
-- Anne Sermons Gillis

  Featured Product This Month

  Healthy Living

Celebrate Earth Day on April 22

We've been at the beach for a few days. We, meaning our RV and truck, are parked at Galveston Island State Park. Each day Jim, Lucy, and I walk the beach several times. It's been so windy we've had to hold onto our hats, but walking beside the ever-splashing waves is soothing. I wish I could end the story at soothing. This story is tragedy filled. The tragedy is the amount of trash on the beach. It's not tourist trash; it's the trash that is washed ashore. Each day we pick up bags of trash (We fill one bag, empty, then refill). Much of the trash is coated with green flowing sea growth; it has little shells attached. It's an amalgam of biolife and plastic.

We find more bottle caps than anything else and a curious amount of rubber gloves. Jim hypothesizes that the gloves come from the off-shore oil rigs. There are 20 oil rigs in the Gulf and more than 27,000 abandoned oil wells.

More than 8 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year and most of us know that our fish and bird life is in jeopardy due to all the ocean trash. While this is not news to us, I did find a lot of one specific kind of trash that I never hear about when people talk trash - ocean trash. We found an amazing number of balloons tied to thin ribbons, balloon pieces, and ribbon pieces. This article is a plea for you to help educate people not to send balloons into the air during wedding celebrations, remembrances, or as a therapeutic or ceremonial tool. The thin ribbons are very strong and can easily tangle a fish, and the balloons are colorful and often mistaken for food. Be the one in your family or group who comes up with alternatives to sending off balloons. Once, when I was in India, we sent little boats, made of natural reeds, down the river, with our prayers to honor our ancestors. The little boats were made of all natural materials and would easily break down without harming any wildlife.

The 2016 Ocean cleanup by the Ocean Conservatory had 791,336 volunteers who picked up 18,062,911 pounds of trash. The number one egregious item was cigarette butts. They picked up 2,127,565.

This month is the month that our attention turns to the earth. Our first Earth Day was in 1970 and April 22 is Earth Day. We all need to do our part to clean up the earth and to make our best purchasing choices so that our cast offs don't cause trouble for our wildlife.

My husband said he would pick up more trash, but that the people who put the trash in the ocean irritated him. I replied, "If someone was hurting an animal, you would intervene; picking up trash is an intervention. The earth and her inhabitants are being hurt, and just as we would help an animal or an abused child, we must help Mother Earth." With our attention being turned recently to the Great Barrier Reef, the largest living structure on the planet, and its recent vulnerability, we are saddened that much, if not all, of the reef is terminal. The Great Barrier Reef is dying. It doesn't matter whether we live near the ocean or not; the ocean is a part of our home, and we need to clean it up and refuse to contribute to her further demise.

So please, when those special occasions arise, nix the outdoor balloon release. The ocean can't take any more of our trash. We must all take responsibility for our oceans. They have no defense against us, so we have to stop our trash attacks. We need every living system, including our water, animals, fish, and birds, and it's up to us to save them.

Click to read 12 Steps for Planetary Recovery, excerpted from Words Make a Difference © 2016 Easy Times Press.

If you have any healthy living tips for the newsletter, send them to me at anne@annegillis.com.

  Anne Talks

Happy Out of the Box Day

  Anne Art

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  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time
unless otherwise specified.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017
5:30-6:45 PM
Words Make a Difference
lecture and book signing
Unity Bookstore, 2929 Unity Drive
Houston, TX 77057
713-782-4050

Sunday, May 14, 2017 (Mother's Day)
10:30 AM Service
"Light Your Way Home"
Unity Circle of Light
Creekside Forest Elementary School
5949 Creekside Forest Dr.
The Woodlands, TX 77379

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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.