MKE Week 1 – My New Life

My previous emphasis for MKE has been on improving my relationship with my husband. He passed away in April, so I am in the process of defining my new life without him. I certainly am able to do that without MKE, but the process is solid, and I believe it will make my journey more productive in the process.

Since April, I have been ensuring his will has been properly executed. At the end of this week, I believe I will have completed those immediate tasks and can plan a more leisurely approach to the rest of the things I need to do to ensure our affairs are in order.

Creating a new DMP is going to help. Also, several aspects that will be coming up in future weeks will help me stay on track with tasks — I have a lot of them.

I’m retired. I’m financially comfortable. I run a small non-profit in our local community. I have a lot of stuff that needs to be rehomed to make my life less cluttered as well as making things easier for my extended family when my time to pass comes around.

The benefits of removing “stuff” that is no longer, umm…needed will be increased flexibility as well as an ability to implement some new things I want to accomplish.

I’m working toward balance in my spiritual, emotional, and physical life. My dream is to complete deferred maintenance on my 1900 Victorian home rendering a solid home for the remainder of my life, travel – possibly to Antarctica, but I have a few other destinations in mind, and build our non-profit animal welfare group to the point it is sustainable after I am gone.

Year 4, Week 24: Universal Mind

I embrace the Universal Mind. Since completing this class 4 years ago, my independent study has expanded significantly. My faith has grown. My mindset has improved tremendously. I’ve adjusted the direction for my life, and I’m preparing another major overhaul of my DMP to encompass an even greater dream.

I don’t plan to continue this blog on a regular basis, but know that the study continues. I’m eternally grateful for the opening of my mind that the MKE Experience has offered to me and others.

Year 4, Week 23: Service

Paragraph 3 has my attention this week.

3. We make money by making friends, and we enlarge our circle of friends by making money for them, by helping them, by being of service to them. The first law of success then is service, and this, in turn, is built on integrity and justice. The man who at least is not fair in his intention is simply ignorant; he has missed the fundamental law of all exchange; he is impossible; he will lose surely and certainly; he may not know it; he may think he is winning, but he is doomed to certain defeat. He cannot cheat the Infinite. The law of compensation will demand of him an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

My attention in recent months has been given over to building relationships and seeking ways I can be of service to others.

Year 4, Week 20: Spiritual Wealth

I’m focusing on Spiritual Wealth since the beginning of the calendar year, so this week is timely.

Paragraph 2 says, “2. You may have all the wealth in Christendom, but unless you recognize it and make use of it, it will have no value; so with your spiritual wealth: unless you recognize it and use it, it will have no value. The one and only condition of spiritual power is use or recognition.”

So the key is recognizing my power. And to recognize, one must perceive. And (paragraph9) perception will come only in the Silence. I am a visualizing entity, and imagination is my workshop. All this can be found in the Silence. The Silence is also where we tap into the Universal Mind.

I am reminded, again, that my power lies in embracing the Silence, visualizing my world, and tapping into the Universal Mind.

Year 4, Week 19: Fear!

I thought I conquered my greatest fear during the first year of MKE. And, in most ways, I did. I’ve learned more about what I was initially afraid of, and I’ve been pleased with the growth I’ve experienced in that area. In recent years, I’ve become aware that more insidious forms of fear may have crept into my life. For much of 2018, I seemed to be exhausted. Mid-year, I found a supplement that helped balance my hormones, and that helped tremendously, but something was still “off.”

Three-quarters of the way through the year, I decided to participate in another coaching program, and that has provided more tools. I’ve been grateful for the progress I’m seeing since adding that coaching to my repertoire. The MKE tools are still valuable to me, and this week’s lesson is an example of that. This year, I’m developing a more intimate relationship with my Spiritual World.

Paragraphs 1-2:

1. The search for truth is no longer a haphazard adventure, but it is a systematic process, and is logical in its operation. Every kind of experience is given a voice in shaping its decision.

2. In seeking the truth we are seeking ultimate cause; we know that every human experience is an effect; then if we may ascertain the cause, and if we shall find that this cause is one which we can consciously control, the effect or the experience will be within our control also.

I’m developing my systematic process this year, and I’m finding it incredibly rewarding and harmonious.

Year 4, Week 17 HJ: Undeserved?

A former fellow classmate posted a picture of his Og for this month. It has the usual “will”s marked out. I expected that. It had the “What am I pretending not to know?” hand-written in. I expected that.  But my eye caught this:

I am indeed a fortunate man and today’s hours are but a bonus, undeserved.

I’d never lined out the “undeserved,” but that changes EVERYTHING, doesn’t it?

We are, indeed, fortunate, and today’s hours are a bonus.

It’s still fair to ask why we have been allowed to live this extra day when others, better than us, have departed. But who are we to say those hours are “undeserved?” We have them. Let’s make the most of each one and not waste time wondering whether they are deserved or undeserved.

I live this day as if it is my last.

Year 4, Week 17: Time Flies

Yes, I missed a bunch of weeks again. I see we’ve just finished the exciting kindness week. Isn’t that great? One result of participating in this program has been a desire to spend more time reading Scripture. I believe participating in this program has brought me into a closer relationship with my Maker.

What are some of the unanticipated benefits you have noticed for yourself?

Year 4, Week 13: Thought

I’m looking at paragraph 23 of Lesson 13 this week.

23. Thought is a spiritual activity and is therefore creative, but make no mistake, thought will create nothing unless it is consciously, systematically, and constructively directed; and herein is the difference between idle thinking, which is simply a dissipation of effort, and constructive thinking, which means practically unlimited achievement.

Nothing will be accomplished if we don’t take action, but before we can take action, we must have thought about that action and seen it unfold in our thoughts. But our thought requires structure and direction. I’ve gotten the best results from my Sits when I’ve approached them seeking an answer to something I’ve needed to do.

Year 4, Week 12: Law of Relaxation

I’m thankful for the 7 Laws review this week. The Law of Relaxation caught my attention:

Mental effort defeats itself ~ exactly the opposite of physical effort. A relaxed, calm state of mind, is the only doorway to progress mentally. Relaxation of thought is the only access to Infinite Intelligence.

I’ve been practicing that this week. For me, I have gotten better at this, but I have far to go before I will have confidence I’ve nailed this law. I have gotten very good at implementing the techniques that accompany this process to get to sleep quickly at night. I feel lacking in other applications though. More practice, I guess.

Year 4, Week 11: Sacred Hours

We’ve been hearing this for weeks, but are we doing it? Are we keeping the last hour sacred? Are we using that last hour of each day to input only what we want to manifest into our minds? Are we eradicating the junk, stripping off the day’s cement, and polishing our personal Golden Budha? If not, we’re doing ourselves a disservice.

Sure this requires a little planning, but when we finish the day right, we set ourselves up to begin the next day right, and we perpetuate the cycle and manifest our desired life.

Review our calendars for tomorrow. Layout our wardrobe. Prepare what we need for tomorrow and have it ready to grab and take with us. Clear our minds. Perform our readings and recitations. Lay down to sleep refreshed and in a positive state of mind.