Rev. Bill reminds us that New Thought is not new, but is the creative process that has been at work since the beginning of time. He then describes how the New Thought movement began, the badasses and troublemakers who contributed to it, and how we got to where we are today.

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Carol notes the internal process we go through when we're dealing with a particularly challenging situation - surrounded by darkness, searching for a glimmer of light, feeling hopeless and looking for something (or someone) to blame. She and Rev. Bill discuss the spiritual perspective, and how an awareness of Oneness can begin to turn the experience around.

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Rev. Bill finds the New Thought teaching to be very simple and straightforward, and has been schooled by Carol over the many episodes of this podcast that people in traditional religion don't think that way. Carol describes how she can now speak both languages, using the one that's appropriate to the audience.

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Rev. Bill is back from the ANTN Retreat with news about "An Awakened Path." Carol imagines that it's about the spiritual path that each of us is on, moving beyond our challenges and circumstances to deepen spiritually. Spot on - and Rev. Bill describes the new collaboration between the various branches of the New Thought community to bring these powerful ideas more widely into the world.

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Carol notes that "thank you" shows good manners, but that gratitude is more of an attitude. Rev. Bill points out that Gratitude is the next-to-last step in a Practical Prayer, and it's the only one that we can actually feel in our body. (Rebroadcast from 6/29/2022)

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Carol has been aware of an increasingly chaotic swirl of events and changes going on, including the added complexity brought on by AI. Her question is who's thinking? Is anybody thinking? Have we outsourced our thinking to AI? Rev. Bill turns the conversation to ethics, moving from what we can do to what we choose to do.

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One of the things that used to drive Carol nuts was when someone was working hard to get through a major challenge, and wasn't getting the desired result, a church friend would say "it's God's timing". Rev. Bill points out that this is dismissive of the person's experience, and makes God the scapegoat.

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Carol loves New Thought, and knows that it is a composite of many religions and traditions. This includes Buddhism, and she notes that many of its peaceful practices get skipped in the adoption. Rev. Bill observes that Buddhism is one of the few major religions that doesn't pray to its founding prophet.

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Carol has been observing lots of changes, challenges and threats to the life and society we've gotten used to. She and Rev. Bill explore the in-your-face experiences and how we can know the spiritual Truth and the larger context of what's going on.

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Carol claims that the Devil is really popular. In thirty-plus years as a Pastor, she gots LOTS of pushback from congregants when she made the claim that the Devil doesn't exist. Rev. Bill helps dig into the metaphysics, and describes how we can each have our own personal devils - or not. (Rebroadcast of Episode #53 from June 2022)

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Carol notes the changes that are happening in our world, and ponders what is being asked of us as well as how our unique combination of gifts, talents and skills can be brought to the challenge. Rev. Bill notes that our tendency to use our prior experiences to predict what will happen next. Instead, we can go back to the initial awareness of out gifts and then re-engage in the inquiry into what's ours now.

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Carol recalls back to when she'd just met Rev. Bill, and he claimed that the answer to every prayer is Yes. That's different that the world of traditional religion, where the answer could be yes, or no, or not now. The dive in for another round of discussion about it, including some very simple examples of how what we want and what we ask for and what we believe we'll get are not always in alignment.

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Carol and Rev. Bill took part in a special presentation for Interfaith Awareness Week, including a discussion of Practical Prayer, and how it can be used by anyone regardless of their religion or spiritual background.

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Carol has an amazing story about a set of purple chairs that she created almost 25 years ago to serve a specific purpose in the church she was leading. She left, the church is gone, but the chairs keep showing up to serve the same purpose. Rev. Bill points out how Consciousness and Spiritual Principle are at work.

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Carol has been thinking about the diversity that exists in the world around us, and was reminded about the richness when each person shares their gifts in a way that brings uplift to everyone. Rev. Bill agrees, and points out the contradictions that are inherent in the current efforts to eliminate efforts toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

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There is a mental and spiritual process of decluttering which Carol finds to be very similar to the spring cleaning (or yard sale season cleanup) that we do in our physical space. She and Rev. Bill discuss how the process is the same with our inner life, including our desire to hold on to "stuff" that has served its purpose and is past its usefulness.

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There seems to be a lot of change underway - even more than usual. Carol observes that sometimes things change all at once, or sometimes it comes about gradually. Each time it happens, she tries to remember that the impact will pass. She and Rev. Bill explore how we see ourselves before, because of, and beyond the changes.

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Carol has noticed that some people are intentionally avoiding news of the world around them to avoid the disturbance and distress that can accompany it. She and Rev. Bill agree that it's important to maintain an awareness, while not being consumed by it. Together they agree on the importance of the mantra, "I know nothing... now what can I know?"

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Artificial Intelligence is getting a lot of attention. Carol and Rev. Bill discuss if it's possible that AI is a great way to expand and deepen our spirituality. Or that it could be a major obstacle to our spiritual growth.

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There's more information about the podcast, and the classes and resources to bring Practical Prayer, more fully into your life at be-the-light.com.

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The pandemic lockdown was five years ago, and Carol recalls that when everything stopped people were talking about getting back to a new normal. Now, it seems that the religious or spiritual lives of many have not resumed. Rev. Bill observes that when we're faced with a new challenge we can respond in a new way, or try to keep doing what we've always done.

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There's more information about the podcast, and the classes and resources to bring Practical Prayer, more fully into your life at be-the-light.com.

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