Invitation to the Spiritual Path

By Rev. Marla Sanderson

Should you get invited to tread a Spiritual path, be sure to RSVP. It’s Your New Life calling.

Your invitation may come in many forms, and sometimes when you least expect it.

How was I to know that my own personal horror movie would point me to a brand new way to experience my life?

“Am I going crazy?” I asked myself, as I struggled to maintain my usual cheerful demeanor around friends and coworkers. As long as there were people around me, I felt OK, but every time I was alone, an ominous, deep voice in my head terrorized me.

I couldn’t tell what it was saying, but I had never been so terrified. I wondered if I should seek out an exorcist, but I didn’t believe in that stuff.

One evening, while home alone and looking for company, I called a friend. I confessed to what was happening to me and she suggested I simply get down on my knees and ask God to take it away.

At this point, it’s important to know that I had left the church of my upbringing years earlier in utter frustration because it had no answers for me. As far as I knew, God and I were not on particularly good terms.

I felt pretty silly as I got ready to do this ritualistic thing but I was desperate. Self-consciously, I looked around my room to be sure nobody was watching. I was afraid to close my eyes. After all, I was confronting some resident creature from Hell AND my lack of faith all at once. Remember, I was desperate.

I got up my nerve and got into position. With eyes closed, I whispered my request, “God, please take this away from me.”

Instantly (not a second had passed) it was gone. GONE! Completely gone, and I knew it would never come back. I cried and cried. Tears of release. Tears of thankfulness. Tears of joy!

I called my friend back with the exciting news – it worked! It was at this point that she recommended I reread a book she had lent me months before.

This time it was as if I was reading a completely different book, and it got me thinking about Life Itself and how it works. It was refreshing to have something to think about besides my weekend plans.

After that, my “weekend plans” included trips to the public library, and staying home on a Saturday night meant I could read to my heart’s content.

What happens when we die?

How do I develop ESP? Automatic writing?

Is there really such a thing as reincarnation?

Your thoughts create your world?…WHAAAAT?

That could explain everything! With that discovery, I found what I was really looking for. Strangely, I was aware that I already knew.

“Your thoughts create your world.” That mystified me—made me question everything I knew up to this point. As I explored my spirituality, I drove myself to go further and deeper.

I questioned my choices, my priorities, my job and my relationships. My old life didn’t satisfy me anymore. I wanted change—radical change. I got a chance to join a group of spiritual explorers in a New Mexico ghost town.

I quit my job. I sold everything I owned. I became the Assistant Director of The Next Step, a psychic and humanistic growth center. The leader of this amazing venture would become a life-long friend and partner-of-sorts.

When The Next Step closed, I was virtually homeless—and absolutely free. My home became wherever I was, and there was a world to see. We traveled. We explored. We chased rainbows. We grew. We did it all without an ounce of fear.

That was many years ago, and I have a “Rev.” in front of my name now, but I still follow my path and I can’t wait to see what’s around the next bend.

Your spiritual path can lead you into exciting adventures and areas of self-discovery, but it will always lead you home.

Rev. Marla Sanderson has been a student of spiritual practice for more than 35 years. She began as Assistant Director of The Next Step, a psychic and spiritual community in a New Mexico ghost town. She’s been a workshop leader, teacher, practitioner, and min- ister of Living Love, and the Science of Mind. She recently founded the New Thought Global Network, a virtual “church” that offers inspiration anytime, from anywhere. The site showcases many powerful Science of Mind and New Thought speakers and writers, and intends to expand these teachings to the world. Check it out at www.newthoughtglobal.org.

 

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