http://www.valorfoundation.com/mysticism.html

IN THIS DAY AND AGE, many persons are discovering that mysticism is a way of life that can be incorporated into their everyday experience. It is not impractical, and, as so many have thought, it is not a way reserved only for the few who can renounce all human responsibilities. Instead it is a way of fulfilling every obligation more effectively than would humanly be possible and experiencing the bliss and joy that nothing in this world can give.

Practical mysticism has been revealed to this age through one man's personal experience of God. That man, Joel Goldsmith, a successful businessman, had a God-experience which thrust him into the healing ministry. This was long before he had any awareness or understanding of the principles he later came to know as basic to the practice of spiritual healing and the living of the spiritual life. For sixteen years he sat in an office answering the many calls that came to him for help, which in the last years of this period of his life averaged 135 a day.

Then, in 1946 he passed another milestone, marked by an inner initiation that went on every day for about two hours in the early morning and lasted for two months. This lifted him into another dimension of life out of which came "The Infinite Way ." The healing aspect of his work continued, but a new phase now opened up for him as a result of this two-month long initiation. He became a teacher and lecturer with a worldwide audience, traveling throughout the United States and Canada and to New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England and many countries in Europe, imparting the truth as it had been given to him. He traveled literally without purse and without scrip. He had no financial backers; he was entirely dependent on the Consciousness that abundantly brought forth the message to sustain the messenger.

God-Experience. Perhaps The Infinite Way can best be described in Joel Goldsmith's own words as "a God-experience." This experience is a touching of that Center within which for generations has been buried 'under a life totally centered in the outer; it is discovering that in that Invisibility within there is Something greater than anything in the visible world; it is knowing with an undeniable certainty that there is a Power and a Presence within each and every person that is the All-Power and the All-Presence.

With this conviction, it is possible to walk up and down a fear-torn world with confidence, courage and assurance, knowing that you do not walk alone, but that this indefinable Presence goes with you. It is That which cannot be described but you can feel Its tug as you turn to It--sometimes in utter helplessness--and find It within your own being.

While an extensive literature setting forth the principles of The Infinite Way has evolved, these books are not the real Infinite Way. True, they are about The Infinite Way and its principles and they serve as guides to those who earnestly desire to enter into this new-old relationship of oneness with the Source of all life. They invite those who hunger and seek after the God-experience to come to the feast, helping to lead them to the experience of God. Each person, however, must enter on his own, for this is an individual unfoldment.

This God-experience is possible to anyone. Every person, no matter who he is--the saint rolling in ecstacy or the derelict in the very depths of degradation--has this Presence within him. Then, why are so few aware of this wellspring of life within? Because they are too busy shadowboxing, making a living, seeking companionship, climbing the social ladder: empty shadows, when all the time within them awaiting their recognition is the Substance of life, fulfillment itself. As Goldsmith says in
The Art of Meditation:

Is there a path that leads to God realization, a path that can be trod here on earth? Can it be achieved here on earth? The answer is Yes. Not only is there a way of accomplishing this objective, but there is a short cut. That short cut, so simple and yet so very difficult, is to perform a bit of mental surgery on ourselves and cut away all our desires. Let us take a good sharp scalpel and cut out of ourselves all desire for a person, place, thing, circumstance, or condition. Every desire must be cut away in order that only one remains: to know Thee, whom to know aright is life eternal.

Pure Mysticism. The Infinite Way is pure mysticism, but not mysterious and not impractical. It is a complete reversal of the materialistic way of life which is based on the belief that there is only a limited amount of good and that in order to attain a portion of that good it is necessary to struggle, to wrest it from those who have it, a struggle which results in cut-throat competition and war.

To follow the mystical way is to recognize that everything you have need of is already within you, within your consciousness. Do not look outside: look within, and you will find all that makes life worthwhile. If the whole world should collapse, a conscious awareness of the Presence within could build it anew, if . . . Yes, there is an "if," and that "if" is: if you are resting in the Presence and relying on It instead of on some tangible thing out there that can so easily be swallowed up in a personal or international holocaust. The mystical way is a practical way because it puts an end to the strife that comes from trying to get something out in the world. Instead, it centers one's attention on how to release the Infinity locked up within.

It is a recognition of the essential worth and dignity of every individual, because within each and every one is this same Presence to be acknowledged and respected: God appearing as. This makes every person important, every person unique, with a special purpose and function in life--not just a cog in a machine.

Back of that acknowledgment of individual worth and dignity is the principle that man is not separate and apart from his Source, but is one with It in an eternal and irrevocable relationship because there is not God and man; there is only God, God appearing as man. God reveals and unfolds Itself as individual being. That being is the Essence Itself in individualization, possessed of all the qualities and capacities of God. How could It ever sin, die or be frustrated, disturbed or ill? Could any of these things happen to God? Then, if they cannot happen to God, they cannot be true of God individualized. God has planted Itself in the midst of every one of us, as us, and this is Grace, overflowing and abundant Grace, sufficient for every need.

Three Little Words. Joel Goldsmith had the unique ability, reserved only for those who themselves have had the deepest experiences, of giving the world the most profound truths in the simplest of terms. In fact, the principles of The Infinite Way can be summed up in three little words: "one," ''as'' and "is."

Oneness is a cardinal principle of The Infinite Way, a oneness which is so basic and all-inclusive that it cannot be side-stepped with any "ands," "ifs," or "buts." There cannot be that One and some other power, presence, cause, law, substance, or activity. Yet, how many persons are there who unquestioningly acknowledge one Power and in the same breath give power to something completely contrary to the nature of that one Power, thereby setting up a lesser power to be overcome by a greater one? But "Oneness" means what It says: One. This eliminates the possibility of anything other than that One having existence except as a mental concept. This simple principle of One is so expansive and all-inclusive that it can include life from every aspect.

Because God is the All-Power, there are no other powers. Because God is the All-Presence, there is no other presence. Because God is All-Wisdom, Infinite wisdom, It is instantly available and need not be enlightened.

Second, but equally important, is the word ''as'': God appearing as individual being and as the spiritual universe and all that is therein. There is nothing outside of or beyond that One, that One which is infinite, unlimited, pure Consciousness, the substance of all life. That One appears as the many, but always the essence and quality of the One are the essence and quality of the many.

And the final word — "is." God is; Grace is; harmony is; perfection is. How much good we shove away from us in our conviction that good was or has been our experience, but is not now present; or how often do we believe that some good may come to us in some future time or state! But all the Reality that exists, exists now. There will never be more of God than there is now, never more of good, wholeness, abundance, perfection, infinity than at this moment. As we live in this moment of is-ness, the next moment unfolds as a continuity of Grace.

The Spiritual Life. To attain the consciousness of the three little words is to have the fabric out of which life is made and to abide in that peace that nothing in this world of appearances can destroy. It is to follow the mystical path and to live the spiritual life. The spiritual life means abiding in is, and life, lived out from is, becomes a glorious experience of unfolding consciousness.

True, the steps leading to the attainment of that consciousness, while they are simple and clearly marked, are not easy. When we listen to a great artist, we seldom think of the years of arduous practice and discipline the artist has undergone to attain such heights of artistic achievement. The music flows forth effortlessly, but the apparent effortlessness comes because of the years of work that were necessary--the effort to attain the effortless.

So with us on this Path. The way is clear and simple, but not easy to follow. It would be simple if we could hug to us those three little words--"one," ''as," "is" — and leave out three other words which are the snare and the pit along the way: "I," "me," "mine."

It is this false sense of self, that personal sense of the little I, me, and mine, that is the source of all our troubles. To adhere steadfastly to one, as, and is annihilates, even though slowly at first, this false sense of self, so that the one Self, which expresses as your Self and my Self, may shine undimmed by any clouds of personal sense.

If there is no personal sense of self, who is there to have any problems? Certainly not God. We can easily prove this as we look at our own experience. Has not every problem stemmed from some thought that we have a life of our own, a selfhood to be preserved, protected, and supplied? Would there be any need for healing if there were no personal sense of self to be sick, in pain, lacking, or dying?

Healing As Revealing. Healing -- the healing of physical, financial, mental and moral ills--is one of the effects of living the mystical life. Actually, it is not really healing, but a revealing of the divine Reality hidden within every person. It is a lifting of the person who comes for help into a higher level of consciousness in which the problems of the world are seen from another perspective, and in that new perspective the problems fade away. In fact, it is seeing life whole, not merely a little segment of life. Just as the caterpillar struggles to climb over a log which looms as a great and almost insurmountable obstacle, so do we, before the mystical consciousness has taken over, see every human problem as great and often terrifying. But, through spiritual awareness we are lifted to a higher level of consciousness, and what appeared as a problem is now no longer that.

Meditation As Receptivity. This awareness is attained through meditation and the practice of the principles of spiritual living. Meditation is an essential part of The Infinite Way, it is an active state in which, through contemplation, the mind becomes a state of listening receptivity. In that silence and stillness, impartations from within come with force and with power, although they may come as quietly and gently as a still, small voice.

In The Infinite Way practice of meditation, there is no reliance on dietary restrictions, specific postures, breathing exercises, or any other external means of attaining this state of quietness. In many ways, the demands made upon us are far more stringent than anything of that nature. In the midst of appearances of every kind of condition and every type of person, there must be a consistent recognition of the one Presence and one Power. Anyone who attempts to adhere steadfastly to such a discipline knows that it requires complete one-pointedness and dedication. To consciously withdraw power from outer effects is an achievement of no small measure.

Most persons find when they sit down to meditate that they cannot be quiet at all. The whole world pushes in upon them with tremendous force, shattering whatever calm may have been felt before, and the possibility of reaching that Center within may seem even more remote. How can this inner clamor be stilled? Some have attempted to blank out the mind by an act of will and thereby attain that inner stillness which is meditation, and many have failed. The Kingdom within cannot be taken by storm.

There is another way to attain this inner stillness, which is so simple it does not seem possible that it could be of any value. But the greatest truths are the simplest and perhaps that is why so few persons are able to accept them: they lack the requisite humility. Anyone who will give this a trial may be surprised at how quickly the mind becomes quiet and peace takes over.

This method is based upon a simple statement of the great Master, Christ Jesus: "I can of mine own self do nothing." Take that same attitude that he in his elevated state of consciousness took and realize that you of yourself can do nothing--not even meditate. Notice the immediate release from all sense of strain and from that mental effort which only keeps the mind on its merry-go-round. As you sit there, remember that you are not trying to force anything; you are not trying to make something happen. You are sitting in an attitude of receptivity, letting the Father within do the meditating, waiting for that Presence to reveal Itself. You have released the responsibility to It.

This must not be a long process--a minute or two or three at the most. But it is something that should be repeated many times a day. Most people can find an odd minute every hour to retire within in an attitude of humility and receptivity. In that minute, you have opened yourself to the Presence and Power within you. If you make this a regular practice, pausing every hour or two to let the Spirit within do the meditating and communing, you will find yourself living in the rhythm of God, and one day you will live in a continuous conscious awareness of the Presence within.

Contemplation. It will be helpful, too, to take some bit of spiritual wisdom and contemplate it for a longer period of time, perhaps as long as five minutes. When I met Joel Goldsmith in 1949, I had been meditating according to a certain procedure for seven years, and meditating successfully because the meditation did bring many benefits. At that time, however, he suggested that I go in a different direction and take for my meditation, "I and my Father are one." This I did.

At first, my meditation consisted primarily of repeating thoughtfully many times, the statement, "I and my Father are one." But each time I repeated it to myself, I waited for something further to be given me, and for some time little or nothing came. The first bit of insight was given me when I fastened my attention on the word "one," asking what "one" really meant. Then later came the question, "What is the Father?", which had to take on a new connotation if it were to have any meaning in this context. And the last word on which my attention was focused was "I."

How long did this continue? An instruction had been given me, and since it was not changed, I continued--not for a day, a week, a month, or even a year, but for two years. Yes, for two years, early in the morning and late in the evening, I contemplated the meaning of "I and my Father are one." After a month or two, I found it easy to rest back in that truth in great peace, quietness and assurance, because such an inner awareness of my oneness with the Source had already come that nothing from the outside could shatter it. With the continued contemplation of it came the conviction and the realization of that eternal relationship of oneness.

Not a Mental Process. Meditation, as taught in The Infinite Way, is not a mental process. It is true that a contemplative meditation such as, "I and my Father are one," does use the mind, but pursued to its ultimate, it takes one beyond any intellectual answer the mind can conjure up. A point is reached where the mind can go no further. Its capacities for enlightenment are exhausted, and in that moment, real silence is attained. It may be for only a second or less than a second, but that second is the moment of "unknowing," and in that unknowing, truth wells up from within, that truth that is Truth, coming with the authority and force of inner revelation.

Patience and perseverance are required as in the attaining of any skill or the perfecting of any art form. The deeper you go within, the richer will be the treasure yielded, treasure not measured in terms of gold and silver, but in terms of quickened awareness.

Meditation is like exploring a forest. With each forward step, great giant trees, young saplings, or little shoots of green breaking through the ground stretch before you. So, too, in meditation new insights into facets of the One are continually whetting the appetite and taking you ever deeper within to greater awareness.

But why make the effort and take all the time necessary to turn to that Presence within? Because the promise is, "In thy presence is fullness of life" --in the presence of That which can be found only at the Center of being: yours and mine. Let that Presence interpret what that fullness of life is, and It will do so to the extent that you adopt the listening attitude and attain an inner stillness. You do not have to outline or plan what that fullness for you is to be.

Infinity Beckons. Most persons limit their present experience to what they already know, circumscribing it by the limitations of the mind, when all the while, Infinity is knocking at the door of their consciousness with new undreamed of and unthought of experiences and wisdom. They turn a deaf ear to that knocking because their attention is riveted upon their previous experience and what they have enjoyed or missed in it, what they seek to perpetuate, recapture, or eliminate. They live in that dead past which has no real existence since all of reality is now.

How are these new facets of Infinity to be recognized when they still represent that which is unknown and undreamed of? There is a way, and that way is turning in meditation from everything the mind has ever known into the unknown Sea of Consciousness. This sense of Infinity with Its immeasurable potentialities is never reached by carrying into meditation a mind image of what a person thinks life should be, but by approaching meditation with no preconceived ideas of what should be revealed and, thereby, truly entering the silence.

Always you must approach meditation in a state of not knowing, in the complete self-surrender of "I can of mine own self do nothing," realizing that the divine Consciousness that you are knows how to meditate. You let It do the meditating and contemplating, thereby releasing this personal sense of self so that the divine Consciousness may take over.

Dedication to faithful practice may at first result in days and days of no response whatsoever, when apparently nothing is taking place. Then something happens, the flow begins--not the flow from your mind but the flow from that deeper stratum of being: Consciousness. It may come as words or as an impartation of some kind. It can come as a sense of peace, but when it comes, you know that you have found the secret of life.

It brings forth a new era, a new world hinted at in the achievements of outer space. It is not the space age, however, but the spaceless age in which time and space are surmounted in the awareness of omnipresent Being.

No Organization. Because of the essentially individual nature of this work, there is no Infinite Way organization: there are no memberships and there is nothing to which anybody can belong. To engage in this study and practice, no one is required to give up membership in anything and no one is required to join or become a part of anything. Each person can go as fast or as slowly as he chooses. He can scale the mountain in one steep ascent, or he can follow many by-paths and delay the experience for one or more lifetimes. There are no restrictions and no limitations, or, in Goldsmith's words:

Illumination dissolves all material ties and binds men together with the golden chains of spiritual understanding; it acknowledges only the leadership of the Christ; it has no ritual or rule but the divine, impersonal, universal love, no other worship than the inner Flame that is ever lit at the shrine of Spirit. This union is the free state of spiritual brotherhood. The only restraint is the discipline of Soul; therefore we know liberty without license; we are a united universe without physical limits, a divine service to God without ceremony or creed.

The illumined walk without fear--by Grace.

The Infinite Way is a restatement of the message given to the world by many great revelators, but the essence of it can be summed up in this: If you achieve a realization of God by steadfastly and persistently seeking only that, then Something greater than your personal sense of self takes over and becomes your daily experience. The experience of God eludes most persons because they seek It for something other than Itself. They seek half a basket when they could have twelve baskets full left over. But the Experience is that Grace which is a sufficiency.

The Ultimate Goal. The purpose of The Infinite Way is to bring a person into complete union with That which is invisible. That Invisible is the Fourth Dimension of life, a dimension beyond height, width and depth. Out of that higher dimension come miracles of grace--healing, renewal, regeneration and a new world in which the miracle of Love holds everyone in Its embrace.

This new world can become a universal experience only as the chains that bind men are broken. And what are these chains that hold the world in bondage? Is it some enemy to freedom in the form of a ruthless dictatorship, an ideology, economic disaster, war, or the scourge of disease? One dictatorship after another has had its day; ideologies have come and gone; depressions have come in a kind of recurring cycle, only to be followed by periods of great prosperity; peace after war has been but an uneasy truce; certain diseases have worked their havoc, and then cures for them have been found, sometimes making way for new and more deadly diseases. All these phases of human bondage have been overcome many times, only to be replaced by new forms.

And so it will continue until a new Element is introduced into human consciousness that will dissolve the lust for power, the greed and the fear which constitute human consciousness. That new Element may be called by many names: "the Presence within realized," "the Messiah foretold of old," "the Christ of whose kingdom there shall be no end." The name is not important. What It really is, is an absolute realization and conviction of one Power which knows no opposites and no opposition. With Its coming, "the former things are passed away, and, behold, all things are new."

That this new Element can be introduced into human consciousness is the vision of The Infinite Way. How it can be done is the larger, broader, wider aspect of this message and its real purpose, which was never primarily to make a few thousand persons healthier, happier or wealthier. The vision of The Infinite Way is that, through the spiritual dedication of those who embrace the deepest principles of mystical teaching and reach the heights of the mystical consciousness, human consciousness may be emancipated from itself, that the Presence hidden within may come forth in Its splendor and glory universally. The way is set forth: it needs only to be followed.

http://www.valorfoundation.com/mysticism.html

Notes from of my journal ~ 2010

These are some of my early inspired writings. I wrote what I heard, but I did not yet hear what I wrote. Now as I do, all is clear to me, a riddle no more. My ears can hear and my eyes can see. ~ Debra Clemente

Come in peace

Inquire

Believe this

Trust me

Don’t question

Ask not

The trouble with thinking

Too much brain power

Guided by God

God in me

I AM

Hidden from view

So obvious

Always there

Tell the lies

Unwritten rules

Guide them

That’s us

Days of my youth

Now it is easy

Supposed to tell

Don’t keep it

Let me rest

Where we go from here

To there

By the book

Knowing versus believing

All along

Waiting for you

Perfection

In the moment

All here

Available now

Nothing to do

As it happens

Look back

You’ll see it

Know it

Believe it

Be it

All there is

Stop wondering

Know

Know God

Know good

Know you

Know me

In good spirit

In God spirit

Break the chains

I like it like this

This point in time

Flash forward

Love has to do with it

In love

Long live

Live long

Try not to think

The pieces come together

And you see the whole

You are whole

The whole with ease

Domesticate

Dumb as educate

Away we go

Through it all

About now

Educate the birds?

Journey home

No editing

Like it is

Prisoners like Michalago’s sculptures

Love

Beauty

Perfection

User friendly

Times change

Point of view

Open up

Let’s see

Like Jesus

Be a saint

Because who says?

They say

Who are they?

They know more than you?

Oh really?

You have the power

I have the power

Find it in here

Let it out

Free yourself

Go on

Live life

Live and be the Truth

God’s perfection

Amen

Upon refection

See me in you

So much the same

Unique view

What you see

Seemingly

Fresh start

In despair

I found God there

The easy way

I like to be used

Use me today

Happy as a clam

It all works

Works so well

Perfectly

I’m finding out

Within

All the time

No time

Timeless

Here

Now

Glimpse

No one told me

Found out within

No one can restrain me

No going back

Better each day

A sensation

Don’t name it

Know it all

Games we play

Who made the rules?

No need

Know need

Have it all

Be it all

Apparition

Anything I need

Know it all

All here

I can tell

All hear

Hear ye

It’s been said

No telling

Twisted tale

Rise up

Meet the day

Bliss

What Jesus knew

What can be

Already is

Pattern

Quilt

Woven tapestry

A little bird told me

Float along

Don’t paddle upstream

Turning point

The river gets wider and smoother

And oh the view!

I’m done with that

What’s done is done

Over and out

Consider this

All I ask

Receive much more

What’s this?

How can I think?

Nothing to wait for

I was told

I now know

I know now

Now I know

Know now

More than me

Don’t stop there

Keep it up

Boundless beauty

For all

They knew it

The signs are there

No denying

Can’t blind my eyes

I hear it

I feel it

I see it

No question

As real as real can be

Step forward with me

Come into the light

Of full life

Be a part of it all

Do you hear me?

Or are you just watching my lips move?

I want you to know

I had to tell you

Don’t let your mind limit you

So close

Doesn’t seem right

The whole truth

Full spectrum light

It all works

Gifts

How can you hear with so much noise?

It’s like a whisper to your soul

Listen and learn

Learn and live

Live and learn

We couldn’t see it

Where this comes from

Wake up

All you need

That’s what I hear

Surrender and be set free

No one could hear me

More than meets the eye

What I heard

I am moved

Where I find myself

So many stories

Just in time

Find yourself here

The way shower

Jesus

The Christ

Close your eyes

And open your heart

Done waiting

Ready now

The way I feel

Wipe your eyes

No need to get ready

As you are

Know what is

Now what is

Bring it to the surface

For all to see

Awaken me from my slumber

Because you were told

When you know the truth

It speaks so loudly

Can’t be ignored

Hidden no more

No one can give it to you

You have to find and take it yourself

Like a party-line

You have to be here

There is no where to go

Once you know you’ll understand

Sounds like a riddle

Crazy as it seems

Don’t listen to me

These are just words

Kind of like this

Feels right

Going my way

Worth exploring

Look around

It occurred to me

This is what it is

It is what it is

Just that

Funny to think

I looked again

Now it’s transparent

I don’t get that channel

What channels do you get?

Choose your programming carefully

And prayerfully.


"Painting Titles" The Voice of Love Speaks to Me, by Debra Clemente

Here it was all along, and yet I had not before ears to hear, nor eyes to see.

I keep discovering treasured Holy Scripture that so speaks to me.

Thank you my friend Joseph for uncovering this treasure so worth finding.


Second Timothy 3:16-17

Conditions for receiving the divine Word ....

The soul ....
The spiritual spark in the human being ....

Two worlds ....
Divine law of love ....

The path of love and faith ....
Acknowledging God ....

So you want to be purified, how much? How much do you want it? As you experience the glory side, the other side seems deeper and darker.

The more you experience in life the more you will be aware and thus more of My Love you can share. Do not hole away. I need you to live fully each and everyday. I come bearing gifts for you, gifts of patience, wisdom and clarity. My good fortune is yours as well as you accept My Love into your heart. These are the true Gifts of Christmas which I offer unto all.

What is required is that you detach from your dire attachment to the world. You cannot hold My hand and walk through life with Me and expect to live the life I have planned for you if you have the other hand full of ideas of the world. You cannot stuff your pockets with your fill of your worldly desires and then come to Me. I give you My All and will accept no less than your all for Me. Only in this way can you hear My Voice so plainly, so clearly.

Trust all is well, this is what is meant by having faith in God. God is good so we are to believe as God’s children that all of God’s goodness is available to each of us as well. We are to trust in God, trust in God’s goodness, purely and completely, without doubt or fear. For God is Love and Love does not know fear. No fear, God is near waiting in Love with Love to welcome all to the center of His heart Eden, Heaven on Earth.

Know what you want. See what you want. Be what you want. See it true. Evolution of consciousness. It’s expressed differently because it is coming from different channels. But all channel from the same Source of Truth. All water flows from the one same Fount. Amazing things can happen when allowed. Don’t let your mind be a plug which stops the flow. Let the good be as it may.

You have continually questioned what you have been told all of your life. You were made to know. You came into this world with a yearning for full remembrance of Truth. You are still yearning for more clarity but now confident that you are on the path to understanding and most important of all you feel and know My Love. You are My Love and you express and exude My Love. Oh yes, it’s all so lovely. Thank you for letting Me have this dance. It’s a long slow romantic heart to heart dance we have. I am in no rush to hurry on with life and nor should you be. When you stay close to Me, time (as you will) stands still. Come out of time and dance with Me.

I used to pray by talking, talking, talking, but never heard a word in return. I see now that I never stopped to listen, to listen in. I prayed my prayer then went back to the rush of the world, back to the noise and confusion. “Where is God?” I would say. “How am I ever to know what to do? How am I to believe when hate and pain is all I see true?”

And now you know and must show the world the Way unto the Words I write upon each heart. As you write My Words, this is a start. As this is the way you found My Voice as the Small Still Voice within you. You asked to know. You asked to show My Love. You asked for Me to so fill you with My Divine Love. You got your ego out of the way and surrendered your will unto Mine. You asked for guidance all the time.

I have always been here. I have always held you dear. But I could never and would never force My Will over yours. I want and need to be chosen. I have already chosen each of you. Your birthright is My Glory, but only for the asking, the asking by a truly repentant heart. Repenting of what? Repenting of your old ways, your selfish ego ways, your old single mindedness where you thought you knew it all. Forget all you have known and come unto Me like a little child full of wonder and a wondrous life you shall know.

Excerpted from:
Listen Hear, A Divine Love Story
by Debra Clemente

From Publishers Weekly: Henry Nouwen, Catholic priest and popular author (The Wounded Healer, 1972), hit a six-month spiritual and mental crisis at the end of 1987 during which he "wondered whether I would be able to hold on to my life. Everything came crashing down?my self-esteem, my energy to live and work, my sense of being loved, my hope for healing, my trust in God... everything." This book is his personal journal written during his time of anguish. For years, Nouwen felt his experience was too personal to share with the world, but on advice from friends, and in the hope that these insights would help nurture others, he published his journal entries. Although there are occasional gems here, most of these meditations are rather generic. Perhaps this generic quality may make Nouwen and his work more human to a public that has come to view him as a spiritual giant.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

How can it be that another writes the same as me? How can it be? Well, it is because we are all one indeed. For those of you that doubt it so, I like to share this link with you to a book which appears to tell, the same story that I do. 

Love is all around
and continually
available to each
and ever one of you.

A NEW DAY DAWNS

A PERFECT ENDING

ABOUT NOW

ABUNDANCE

ALL BLESSINGS FLOW

ALL MY DAYS

AND THEN THERE WAS LIGHT

ANY DAY NOW

AS I AWOKE

AS INTENDED

AS IT WAS

BE REAL

BURNING DESIRE

CALLING MY NAME

COLOR MY WORLD

COME AGAIN SOON

COME CLOSER

DELICIOUS

DON’T LOOK INTO THE SUN

EDGE OF REASON

ENCHANTMENT

ENDLESS DAYS

ENLIGHTENMENT

FEEL JOY

FIND YOUR WAY

FOREVER AND EVER

FROM HERE I SEE

FROM HERE ON

GOLDEN GLOW

HARD TO FORGET

HEARTFELT

HEARSAY

HERE BEFORE ME

I CAN SEE

I FELT ALIVE

I SEE YOU

I THOUGHT OF YOU

I’VE BEEN WAITING

IF EVER

IMAGINE

IMAGINE THE DAY

IN GRATITUDE

IN MY DREAMS

INTO THE LIGHT

IT STRUCK ME

IT’S ALL BEFORE ME

JUST A GLIMPSE

JUST ENOUGH

JUST THE BEGINNING

LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW

LIKELY STORY

LISTEN

LIVING PROOF

LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

LOW AND BEHOLD

MAKE GOOD

MEMORIES OF ME

MOMENTS LIKE THESE

MORE THAN EVER

MORNING LIGHT

NO HOLDING BACK

NO MORE WAITING

NO THING IS FOREVER

NO TIME AT ALL

NOT FAR AWAY

NOW IS THE TIME

ONE MAGIC MOMENT

ONLY FOR A MOMENT

OUT IN THE OPEN

OTHERWISE OVERLOOKED

PLAYFUL GESTURE

PRIMARILY TRUE

QUIET TIMES

REMEMBER THIS MOMENT

REMIND ME

SEE THE LIGHT

SEEMS TO ME

SLOW WAY DOWN

SO BE IT

SO STILL

SOFTLY COMES THE NIGHT

SOMETIME SOON

SOUL FOOD

SOUND OF SILENCE

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

STANDING STILL

TAKE TIME

TELL ME AGAIN

TELL ME MORE

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE

THE SKY IS NO LIMIT

THIS I KNOW

TIME TO TELL

TIME WILL TELL

TRUTH BE TOLD

TUCKED AWAY

USE ALL YOUR SENSES

WALK INTO THE LIGHT

WHEN YOU SAY IT LIKE THAT

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

WITHOUT STRIFE

WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH

WORTH REPEATING

WRAP YOUR ARMS AROUND ME


I wrote this story as I lived my life, as I painted images inspired by the calling of my heart. And as well, as I named each by listening to this same Voice of Inspiration. But not until now could this full story be told. Not until this moment, did this Truth so unfold.

The story above was composed by the alphabetical listing of my inspired art titles since the day I began seeing and hearing, painting and writing as I now do, to this day that I write this story to share with you.

Debra Clemente 2/3/2013

artist/author
DebraClemente.com

“Oh, dear,” as I was rushing to my car, I just splashed some of my hot mocha upon the sleeve of my sweater. Shaking head at my predicament, I say aloud, “Ish, Ishmael.” Ismahael? What? Where did that come from? I can understand this “ish” part, for “ish” kind of sounds like “tisk,” but Ismahael? I don’t even know what that word means. But, do know that it that means something, it has to mean something to me or for me. These words do not pop into my consciousness for nothing. What is it? What am I to know? As I live continually in a state of wonder, I immediately, search for the definition of “Ishmael” and read:

Ishmael, from the Hebrew word meaning God hears.

I am in awe. I stand in a continuous state of awe and wonder of Your Magnificent Ways Dear Lord. You Hear me. You Hear, that I hear You.

- Debra Clemente, From the pages of my journal, 12-12-2012.

I wrote these words that follow from God for a friend who needed to hear that God is so near. I wrote as I lay in bed, barely lifting my head to see the paper. I am but a messenger. These words were given to me to receive. These words were given to me to share, so that whoever needed to receive them could hear. I asked that God fill me. I asked that God’s Love spill from me. I asked to overflow so others could know. I am not here for only me. I am here to help others see.  - Debra Clemente

Listen to this Voice
Not the voice of doubt
This is the Voice
That says you can
Listen within
Not without
You have never
Been without
My Love
It has always been
Here for you
Accepting it and
Acknowledging it
Is what you have
To Do
I can help you see
See the beauty
Life holds and is
For you
Set aside your cares
And know that you
Are in My Constant Care
This is something
You must do
Be with Me
Be here with Me
Within your heart
Which is My Heart of hearts
Ask me to fill you
With This Love
I Am
And I Will
You can have
Your fill
For there is
Enough
More than enough
My Love is abundant
My Love is unlimited
And as I so fill you
With This Love
You shall know
That you are
This as well
You will know
You will be able
To tell
You will feel Me Live
Within your being
Set Me free
To Be
And I will set
You free
Of all your worry
I can do
What you cannot
My Power
My Strength
Is what you need
Tell Me
Tell Me
You know this is so
Tell Me
That you cannot
Do this alone
You are not alone
For I Am here
But your actions
And your words
Keep Me
From your knowing
So you cannot
Hear Me Say
Each and every moment
Of each and every day
How proud I Am
Of you
For doing all
That you do
I have been
With you
I have seen
You through
And yet still
You do not know
Instead you just
Try to believe
But it is possible
My Dear
To more than believe
You can know
You can know Me
You can talk to Me
As you do
But you do not
Stop to listen
To what I have
To say
You pray
Then go on your way
And say
That life is hard
And hardly fair
Sometimes you
Are not sure
If I even care
But I do
I always have
And always will
What you need
To know is
My Love
My Love
You need to know
That is it real
Really available
Right now
To give you the strength
I AM
My Love
Will carry you through
Ask for It
Ask to be filled with It
Ask me to give you My Strength
Tell Me again and again
How you need me.

Do you know what
Rock bottom is Dear?
It is where and when
You shall find Me
For this is when you
Shall truly seek Me
For then you shall
Have had enough
Of your own ways
And give it all to Me
All of your worry
You shall hand it over
You shall take the weight
Of the world
Off of your sore shoulders
You will say that you
Cannot go on this way
You will say
You cannot take it
Another day
And I will say
Good
I will say
Hurray
Enough is enough
Of doing things your way
Today is new
Today is the day
The Lord has made
And you shall
Take My Hand
And I shall
Lead you
To my Still Waters
To drink
To quench
The thirst
Of your soul
And your soul
Will drink
Your soul
Will drink in
My Love
You shall nurse
From My Breast
The Bosom
Of My Eternal Love
You shall depend
On Me
For My Strength
And My Love
Which is
The very substance
Of Me
I shall nourish thee
I shall feed you
My Love
Bit by bit
As you ask
And you have to
You must continue
To ask
You must not leave me
You must not leave
The knowing
That I Am
With you
That I Am
Near you
That I
Live within you
You must
Thank Me
You must
Be grateful
For all the good
You see
Around you
And I shall then
Be able to
Give you you more
For as you believe
You shall so receive
This is the way
You are to pray
Pray believing
Pray believing in Me
And you shall
Then know
Know Me
We are together
My Dear
We are never apart
For I Am
A part of you
I am the
Part of you
That gives you
Life
For I am Life
I want you
To be with Me
I want you
To know that you are
Not alone
I want you to know
That I Love you
I want you to know
That this Love
I Am
And have for you
Is Real.

Love,
Your God
Which lives within
Loving you
All the while
Wishing so
Again
To see
You
Smile.


www.DebraClemente.com