The Anne Report, Movin' & Changin', tells of Anne's and Jim's return home from their grand twins visit and about the many changes that happen in our lives. The Main article, The Sage and the Servant, emphasizes the subject of humility in spirituality. The Healthy Living article, Contemplate the "Re"s, encourages us to focus on the power of words contemplated thoughtfully. The Anne Talk is Free to Be Me. Learn about Anne's newest book: The Living Book. The Featured Product this month highlights Anne's second book, EZosophy: The art of EZ or at Least EZier Living. Click to read What is EZosophy?  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, August 15, 2017
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

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

Anne's Websites:

  The Anne Report

Movin' & Changin'

Dear ,

Today we are on the last day of driving from the Charleston, SC area back home to The Woodlands. It's a pattern because we dote on our three-year-old grandsons. We live on the go, as a lifestyle, and, thanks to technology, we can do that. We are a mobile society. When I moved away from my place of my birth, most of the previous generations still lived in the area. My ancestors came over in the 1600's, or thereabouts, because they received a land grant in Pitt Country, North Carolina.

When I left home in the 1960's, it felt like I was stepping into a brave new world. I drove an old white Chevrolet, was newly married, dropped out of college, to resume years later, and moved to Charlotte, NC. I started selling Watkins Vanilla door to door. The stuff was a chemical mix, but in the '60's, people ate margarine and green and blue Jell-O. Many of the words I use in my current life didn't exist in the '60's. My family made a living growing and selling tobacco, and most adults smoked. While people wail about our current lifestyles and political situations, and there is reason to wail, we must remember to look at the long way we've come in our society. Virginia Slims thought we had "come along way, baby" because women worked outside the home and smoked. But today we've come a long way because only 17% of American women smoke now. The rate of decline for adult smokers has decreased about 1% annually for all adult smokers since 1973.

We can be sure that change is the only constant in life. The Buddha taught non-attachment. What a great wisdom for our contemporary society. Life changes, and we have to "Secure yourself to heaven. Hold on tight." (Indigo Girls) "cause we ain't seen nothin' yet." We are in mass transit! We cannot fix or control life, so we might as well hang on as we explore the brave new worlds of today. So here we go, at 70 miles an hour, speeding toward Texas, and, if we're fortunate, and I believe we are fortune-filled, we will arrive home in the middle of the great adventure we call life. That's it for the Anne Report.

  Main Article

The Sage and the Servant

Each one of us is a sage; maybe not all the time, but we have the innate wisdom to say the right thing at the right time. So many times our friends come for comfort and often, through some mysterious stroke of insight, we say the perfect thing. Our friend might even ask us to repeat our message, but we say, "I don't think I can say it again," as we wonder where that wisdom came from.

The lyrics to Karen Drucker's song call us into healing mode:

We are all angels who only have one wing.
We are all angels searching for each other.
All angels who cannot reach the sky, 'cause we need each other to fly.

Do you know that there are angels in our midst?
Can you hear them? Can you feel them?
They're all around you, with you every day.
Do you see them, or do you look the other way?
It's that man that I forgot to kiss as I hurried out the door, or that stranger that said "Hello" that I ignored.
They are angels. We are angels.

A sage takes the position of teacher or adviser, but a servant humbles oneself as s/he does menial tasks for a higher cause. Karma Yoga or Seva is selfless service to God (The Universe, etc.). Recently I, along with many others, helped a Unity Church group move into their/our newly constructed building. Probably several of the people who helped have a home cleaning service clean their personal homes, but on that day, they became servants. A servant is not someone who lives in servitude, but one who lives in liberation because their egos don't keep them bound in the story of how they are too good to do lowly jobs. A true servant of life not only does windows, they allow themselves to do the job at hand.

My first visit in an ashram included many hours of ironing, and my first trip to India included chopping a lot of vegetables. I went for the glory and found that my ego needed humbling.

As we spiritually mature, we learn that we must be both the sage and the servant. Remember the famous scene in the movie about Gandhi's life, when he told his wife that if she wouldn't clean toilets, she must leave their home. He was willing to do any kind of work, and anyone who lived in their sanctuary must be willing to do any task. He taught human equality in a time when a stringent caste system divided people. When upper caste people had to do menial tasks, it helped bridge the divide.

What is our divide? Are we above cleaning toilets? I saw a musician on television who was barefoot. He had not worn shoes for years. He chose to walk in solidarity with the poor of the world who have no shoes. He chose a way of life that caused him discomfort and probably disapproval, but, to me, he is a sage.

We get uppity. 95% of life is routine maintenance. We have to shop, groom, exercise, cook, and work. That takes up most of our time. There's an old saying that before enlightenment we "chop wood and carry water" and after enlightenment "we chop wood and carry water." There are several meanings to the phrase, but one of them is that no matter who we are, we have to maintain our lives. We brush our teeth, go to the dentist, and take our car in for repairs and oil changes. When we resent those things, we sentence our lives to deep discontentment.

Our wisdom and our brilliance do not entitle us to a life of glamour. Our position and our knowledge do not entitle us to a life of privilege. We are all sages, but if we don't balance that sageness with service, we become hollow people. Too often people spend their lives trying to be successful and famous, but the emptiness of that quest serves only the ego. If we wake up each day with the idea, "How can I serve?", the need to be successful loses its hold.

The servant and the sage are a part of us, but unless they walk hand and hand, our lives become unbalanced. We are amazing beings, but without oversight and humility, our egos co-opt our presence and power and use them to score points in life. While life may be a game, it's a game that does not require score keeping. We are guided into the life of the servant by a deep calling. When we answer this call, we activate the sage within. When we integrate the sage and the servant, the scoreboard dissolves, and our lives not only become more peaceful and interesting, they also become EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

Anne's Quotes

"One of our missions on earth is to learn to live with the infinite and the finite. We have to be in this world but not of this world, yet we can't pretend that the world doesn't exist. We are sometimes expanded and generous, yet moments later we feel afraid and contracted. One day we are saints, but when someone makes a crass remark, we feel like a wounded child. It's all a part of this adventure we call life. These extremes, that hurl us from humanness to divinity, are the ones we have to integrate so we can be fully functioning people. We are spirits in form, and even though the spirit part defines us, the human part provides a unique vantage point for spirit. To complete our mission on earth, we need a kick in the butt, a shoulder to cry on, self-trust, and a sense of humor. None of this is serious, and if we are somber and serious all the time, we have missed the point of life. We don't need to be serious about our faults; we just need to set ourselves on course when we miss the mark. Life has demands, and when we meet them with common sense, without judgment and resentment, we always find that life can be EZier and EZier."

"You think who you are is not good enough. Try to be somebody else. Follow others' leads. Be who your parents want you to be. How does that work out? It's impossible. Your parents' dreams are your nightmare if they are not in line with your essence. Everybody but you is already taken. Life offers each person a unique and personal invitation to be who they are. You are invited to be you. RSVP."

"The present moment contains gifts that fill the emptiness of the past."

  The Living Book

The Living Book, by Anne Sermons Gillis

• Suppose someone told you that you could change your life radically, for the better, if you spent just three minutes a day doing inner work? Would you believe it? Maybe not, but wouldn't it be worth an investment of three minutes a day to try it?
• The Living Book offers just this. Devote three minutes a day to this process and your life will become a living testimony to the seed principle. A tiny seed can grow into a mighty tree, but it must be planted. Plant your daily seed for three short minutes and notice both subtle and miraculous changes in your life.
• In addition to the daily practice, one can use the process when they are stumped or afraid or angry. This process transforms anger into love. When we plant seeds of light into our thoughts and emotional bodies, we move into higher frequencies of well-being.

The Living Book, by Anne Sermons Gillis
PDF Book Download $0.99. Kindle Book: $2.99.

  Featured Product This Month

Click here to check out Anne's newest book, Words Make A Difference, a book of affirmations, action plans, and deep insights into the human consciousness that transforms and heals the soul, the local and global community, and the planet. Travel with Gillis on a journey through deep psychology, metaphysics, and nondualism.

  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to learn about EZosophy.

NOTE: If you are viewing this on a cell phone, be sure to scroll to the right to see the other column.

  Healthy Living

Contemplate the "Re"s:
Reflect, Renew, Revitalize, Refresh, Regroup, Realize, Restore, and Resource

By now, if you've read my newsletter for any length of time, you've discovered my fascination with the power of words and the ability to learn directly from words through contemplation. When we work with contemplative practices, we train the mind to become quieter. Slowing down the mind is a training process. Could you imagine having a gold medal for mind practices? The gold medal for compassion goes to the America team. The gold medal for being the most peaceful goes to the country of India. The gold medal for best meditator goes to…. You get the picture.

Words have energy and presence that tie or point us to the experience of which they speak. The word "love" is not the expression and experience of love, but the word can communicate something that lies beyond the word itself.

Contemplation of any word, coupled with awareness, awakens the living meaning of the word. Ponder the "re" words in the title of this article one by one and experience the word as it is born in you. Focus on the area in the center of your upper chest. Imagine there is a still pond in your chest and see a drop of water falling in the pond, sending out circles. See each drop as a word. See the word "reflect" a drop in the pond. Go slowly. Monitor your body and continue to let go at deeper levels. Do this five times and then go to the next word.

This will take about 20 minutes. When you are complete, write down any impressions you may have about any of the words. It is astounding what bubbles up when we intentionally focus and still the mind.

A rested mind is a competent mind. When the mind is rested, it is more resourceful, it has direct access to wisdom, and it handles challenges in more creative ways. And when the mind is rested you will find that "Everything can be easy or at least easier."

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

  Anne Talks

Free to Be Me

  Anne Art

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NOTICE: Here are two shareables from Anne. Feel free to pass them along.

The World's Best Weight Loss Secret

Thought Freedom

  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time
unless otherwise specified.

Sunday, August 20, 2017
12:30 PM to 3 PM
"Synchronicity"; Cost $25.00
Light refreshments served.
Creative Life Spiritual Center
5326 Spring Stuebner Rd. Ste. 200
Spring, TX
Phone: 281-350-5157

Friday, October 6, 2017
Workshop, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM EDT
"Building Self Esteem and Courage"
5 hours CE credits
Location: "Phoenix Center"
1400 Cleveland Street
Greenville, SC
Click Here for Registration

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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.

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The EZosophy Bracelet