Knowing what seemingly separates us from the Love of God helps us to join with the Love of God

What seems to separate us from the Love of God?

The short answer:  fear generated by our ego-mind.  

Seems is a very important word in this question.  We cannot be separated from the Love of God, but we can forget our relationship with the Love of God.    

"You do not stand separate and alone. At these words your heart rejoices and your mind rebels. Your mind rebels because it is the stronghold of the ego. Your thought system is what has made the world you see, the ego its constant companion in its construction." A Course of Love, Chapter 2, verse 17

In reality, we are never separate from the Love of God, but it sure can feel like it at times.  We can blame it on our circumstances, a personal relationship, our job or any of the myriad of situations we experience.  But ultimately blame, as well as thoughts of judgement, attachment, and comparison,  show us we are in the ego-mind or fearful patterns of thought that we've picked up on our physical life journey that separate us from the Love of God.  

These patterns of thought generate fear and most certainly create difficult times that seem to destroy our wishes for experiencing a happy life.  These fear based through patterns are so entrenched in the human psyche that many have come to believe that they cannot know the Love of God until their moment of physical death. This false belief makes the 'how to join with the Love of God?' seem like an impossible question.  

While the ego-mind can be convincing, it's not true.  

"The ego is what you made. Christ is what God made. The ego is your extension of who you think you are. Christ is God's extension of who He is." A Course of Love, Prelude, verse 8

What is true is our everlasting life in relationship with the Love of God.  Our relationship with God is our experience of the Love of God.  Our relationship with God is strengthened or restricted by how much attention we give the ego-mind.  In this conversation Lana shares how she fosters the glorious moments that she calls a Holy instant in time, the moment that make her life an expression of the Love of God.

"It's all about joining, relationship, giving, receiving, being one. We're already one. And we get to know that's true when we are in service or we're sharing the love of God. When we're extending love in any way, in any kindness, compassion, a smile. I mean, you can smile right now and you'll feel your energy shift." Lana Carolan

Simply remembering that we cannot be separated from the Love of God gives us a moment of mindfulness and a momentary chance to elevate mindfulness to wholeheartedness (see Lana's previous episode).

"The heart is needed to guide the mind in a way that it does not desire to be guided, a way that is one of joining, a way that does not allow the mind's separate stance, its rules, or its right answers. The heart is needed because it is who and where you are and responds in love to what is one with it. We are One Heart." A Course of Love, Introduction, verse 6

Who can separate you from the love of God?

Only you can.

This is true for each of us.

Romans 8:38,39 - For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Circumstances of life may influence the formation of our thought patterns but circumstances cannot prevent us from knowing the Love of God, from life without fear or physical life without pain and suffering.  Because life itself, the very essence that makes our heart beat is eternal life or everlasting life - it is the love of god that animates our physical life experience and can help us to learn and choose the thought system of God.

"Everything is held together by the thought system that gave birth to it. There are but two thought systems: the thought system of God, and the thought system of the ego or the separated self. The thought system of the separated self sees everything in separation. The thought system of God sees everything in unity. God's thought system is one of continuous creation, rebirth and renewal. The ego's thought system is one of continuous destruction and disassembly, of decay and death." A Course of Love, Chapter 8, verse 25

Lana knows this well and in this conversation she shares how important it is to her wellbeing and her ability to help others that she heal her mind first.  What she means is to give up the strangle hold of the ego-mind and return her attention to her relationship with the peace, harmony and Love of God that naturally emanates from the heart of her being.

What does it mean to be spiritually separated?

When we only know the thought system of the ego-mind we feel spiritually separated from God and even from the very essence of our being (which is God!).  The emotions we feel in times like these can be anger, resentment, judgement, longing , hopelessness, utter despair and even powerlessness.   Our (ego-mind) thoughts can easily turn to the false understanding that cessation of life will bring spiritual unity. Yet, somewhere deep within us we know this isn't true because the grace and Love of God resides in our hearts to carry us through these moments.

Just as we cannot be separated from the Love of God we cannot be spiritually separated from God, but just the same we can forget this truth and experience what feels like spiritual separation.

The purpose of our lives is to express the Love of God in physical form which is the expression of who we truly are, it is full alignment with the very essence of our being.  This is why, even when we only know the ego-mind thought system, we search for and yearn to know the Love of God.  It is a yearning to know ourselves, to know the Christ consciousness that resides in our hearts.  It is our calling to be in relationship with God, to know the Love of God.  

Have you ever noticed that relationships between yourself and another person don't exist within either person but between your and the other?  A relationship cannot be sensed or experienced through the five physical senses (sight, sound, smell, touch or taste).  Relationships are matters of the heart.  Your relationship with God, your experience of the Love of God is a heart based experience that can be known and expressed through our physical body and physical life.  

"In the light that comes only to eyes that no longer see, you will find the Christ who abides in you. In Jesus Christ, the Son of God became the son of man. He walked the world with a face much like your own, a body with two legs and two arms, ten fingers and ten toes. And yet you know this was not Jesus, nor is this a picture of the Christ. Jesus gave a face to love, as you do here as well." A Course of Love, chapter 3, verse 6

What do you do when you feel separated from God?

Everyone experiences the overwhelm of the ego-mind thought system as painful emotions and unpleasant feelings from time to time - it's important to know how to shift our focus on life from mind to heart when we need to.  

"We make up unreal stuff and then make it real. Sometimes I'll get really passionate about healing and I'll get upset with the ego. I'll say to it - you're not going to invade my mind, you're not going to infect my mind again."  Lana Carolan

In this interview Lana shares her game for experiencing a day in peace, the power of listening meditation, how healing her mind is her priority and how this all allows her to give up her worries about tomorrow.  Lana also shares how she discerns the ego thoughts from the voice of Jesus Christ and messages from the Holy Spirit.  

"I'll ask, what is the truth of this? It sure, it looks crazy to me! I will get an answer and I know it's from Holy Spirit because it brings those things with it. I know it's Holy Spirit, because I receive clarity, certainty, and peace. There's never any fear. There's never any confusion, and there's a certainty about it. There's no doubt associated. Like, I have a no and only Holy Spirit can do that. My ego and certainty? No!" Lana Carolan

Listen to this conversation with an open heart and you will feel Lana's grace through faith, even in her very real and down to earth approach to life.  You can hear that Lana hasn't given herself or her power away to difficult circumstance instead she's fostered a loving, healthy relationship with God by holding her attention as much as possible on the Christ consciousness that resides within her and each and every one of us, including you.  

"My heart is your heart. My love is your love. My truth is your truth. We are one." Lana Carolan

You will feel that Lana knows the grace of salvation.  Yet, she doesn't speak from a place of righteousness, but rather from the place of knowing her power of choice in each moment by moment action - the same power you and I have.

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00.370] - Helen Reynolds

Welcome to the More Love Podcast with Helen Reynolds, where we uncover the innate power held within each of us that's been withheld for thousands of years. This power is innately and rightly yours that it's been hidden, lied about and taken from you. So, if you want your freedom and your power to create back, this is the podcast for you. Hit subscribe, settle in and enjoy. Well, this is going to be a fabulous episode - I'm joined with Lana Carolan, thank you so much for coming back to the More Love Podcast.

[00:00:38.750] - Lana Carolan

Very welcome. I'm so happy to be here.

[00:00:41.840] - Helen Reynolds

Oh, it's always a delight talking with you, Lana. And your last episode, which was episode 20, was really popular and I got lots of fabulous feedback.

[00:00:55.070] - Lana Carolan

Wonderful.

[00:00:56.230] - Helen Reynolds

Yeah. We talked about mindfulness and wholeheartedness. I actually thought of it as a really nice conversation about elevating mindfulness to wholeheartedness. But today we were going to start with, do we have an innate power within us?

[00:01:17.510] - Lana Carolan

Yes.

[00:01:18.830] - Helen Reynolds

Which is really relevant in your life at the moment because you've had a recent healing experience. Is it okay to say it like that?

[00:01:32.150] - Lana Carolan

Yeah, I have healing. I have some chronic condition, so I heal often. It's like a joke. I said, Jesus resurrected once, but I do it like four times a month, resurrecting bringing my life back, being alive again. Yeah.

[00:01:57.520] - Helen Reynolds

You're amazing. So before the recording, we started talking about the incredible acceptance that you're able to, the really accepting space you're able to come into.

[00:02:13.710] - Lana Carolan

Right.

[00:02:15.030] - Helen Reynolds

And then the allowance of the healing. Would you explain it in your words? Because it's not as pretty when I say it.

[00:02:24.810] - Lana Carolan

Well, you know, there's an old expression, what you resist persists. And I experience mainly physical pain. I don't have a lot of emotional pain, but I do experience physical pain because I have this it's called spinal stenosis or something. So it can be intense. So the thing what I found works best and it's most efficient is the acceptance of it. Now, as I mentioned, acceptance doesn't mean I like it. It just means I'm not going to resist it or do battle with it because energy is just passing through unless we resist it or block it, and then it seems to stay fixed. So if you're having some type of happy experience, we don't block that. That passes right through. In fact, we call those fleeting moments because it gets through. But when we're experiencing something a little more challenging or something, we would prefer not to be experiencing, we resist it. You would think we would allow it to pass through. But just our human nature puts up roadblocks of trying to fix anything. It can be situations, relationships, whatever. It doesn't have to be a physical thing. And when we resist it, we're not allowing that energy to pass through.

[00:04:05.270] - Lana Carolan

Or if we try to engage it in any way or I don't know, any type of engagement would hold it in place what I found. And this is like the drill for me. I get very still both in body and mind. And sometimes people will say, well, how do you get still in your mind? How can you stop the thinking? And what I found that really works for me is I go into like a listening meditation where my whole focus and attention is placed on just listening. And at first I'll hear the sounds outside the window or my roommate playing the TV or whatever. I'll just listen. In the spring, it's the birds I'll hear. But whatever's going on, I just become very still in listening. I can't listen and think at the same time. If my focus is on listening, I'm not thinking. So as I'm listening, whatever chatter is going on in my mind just subsides and disappears. It becomes very still and quiet. And then eventually the sounds that I hear disappear. So I'm in a place of. I call it a present state of awareness, stillness. And when I have my focus there, I'm not thinking.

[00:05:42.280] - Lana Carolan

So that energy, whatever it is, I'm not feeding it with my attention. I'm letting it be. So as I let it be, then I'll say, I let it flow, so it'll flow through. And then I can say I let it go, but it actually lets go of me. I don't have to do. There isn't a thing called letting it go. I just noticed it's gone. It's just gone. So acceptance is just accepting. What is it's allowing? Whatever is to be what it is. It's a release from struggles. Because whether you're talking about feelings or thoughts, for instance, if, say, I'm practising one of the concepts in A Course of Love or in A Course in Miracles, and I just failed for the 15th time, maybe I judge something as being bad or something. I don't know, whatever.

[00:06:55.830] - Helen Reynolds

I know what you're talking about.

[00:06:58.110] - Lana Carolan

And I used to be really upset about that when I first started doing this stuff. And that was like four decades ago. And now I allow my feelings. It's okay. And one time Jesus said to me, because I had a grievance of some kind and I was feeling guilty about it because it was about a brother. And I was feeling guilty because I had this grievance. It wasn't a big thing. And Jesus spoke right to my heart and he says, don't you know? Can't you see that you're always innocent? Even when you have a grievance? Even when you're feeling guilty, you're always innocent. And he says, Forgive yourself, and both your grievance and your guilt will disappear. It was just a reminder where God only sees our perfection. He doesn't see anything else. He doesn't see all this craziness that we go through. Now when I have feelings that maybe ten years ago I wouldn't want to embrace, now I embrace them all with love because I found that love. This is another hot line from Jesus. Love is the remedy for anything appearing unlike itself. So it doesn't matter what it is. The good, the bad, the ridiculous.

[00:08:31.910] - Lana Carolan

I bring it to love and love heals. I just give it space, let it be and ask for God's love to join with me or join with it. It's like it lifts something off of me and I feel free. I just feel free. That's part of it. It's the freedom that comes from it, from healing. Healing is just. You're not captive by whatever the pain is, physical or emotional. You're no longer victim, you're no longer held hostage by it

[00:09:19.800] - Helen Reynolds

and no longer feeling like you have to deal with it.  Like you're the individual that has to deal with it.

[00:09:26.870] - Lana Carolan

Yeah, well, one time, Jesus said to me, it was one of those occasions when I was asking me him, what am I going to do? And he says, Beloved child, you are asking the wrong question. It's not what you're going to do. The right question is, what is God going to do? And in that moment, like, again, it was like the weight of the world being lifted up. And it was like, of course, why am I even asking that stupid question? What am I going to do? It's like that joke they have, just you and I see God laughs, Tell him your plans and then gosh. They asked him for his help with the plans. That's even funnier.

[00:10:10.250] - Helen Reynolds

We do that all the time. We get on this spiritual journey and then we try. We try to fast track it. We try to be dedicated to the spiritual journey. We try to reach out to God or Jesus or The Universe, whatever language we prefer. And then we wonder why it doesn't work.

[00:10:37.850] - Lana Carolan

Right? If you're going to try anything, try doing nothing. Try real hard doing nothing. Because that's all God. I mean, all he ever asks is be willing, be openminded, be willing to take a chance, be willing to trust me. And I love that. About, well, first initially about, A Course in Miracles, because Jesus never asked me to believe anything. In fact, the whole purpose of the atonement was to undo, beliefs or was the undoing of them. He said, Just take it out for a test drive and see what shows up. So you take forgiveness out, take this out. And just. I remember one time early in my spiritual journey or life, I did. It was a book by Hugh Prather and it was modelled after the workbook of A Course in Miracles and it was called A Book of Games. It was spiritual games. And I remember, and this was before I started studying the Course of Miracles. But it says, just for today, give everyone and everything to be what it is, whatever it is. If the weather wants to be horrible, give it permission to be horrible. The traffic wants to be back up, back up.

[00:12:04.840] - Lana Carolan

Just for today, give it permission to be. If your boss wants to be a grump, let him be a grump and then report back at the end of the day. This sounds so elementary, but it rocked my world because I had such a peaceful, wonderful day just by giving it permission to be what it is, because it really was like a nonjudging state. And it would amaze me was that I had the power to determine whether I was going to have a peaceful day or not. I could decide. I could choose peace instead of this. And it was just for a matter of allowing whatever and whoever to be who they are, not wanting something to be different than it is. And like the AA programme, I can do that for a day, and then the next day I can do it again for the day. And that's what I mean when Jesus askes us to take it out for a test drive, take these principles, integrate them into your life and see what shows up. You don't even have to have any. Don't have any expectations because it's probably going to be wrong. Just see what shows up.

[00:13:28.170] - Lana Carolan

Don't anticipate it. Don't try to figure it out. Just do this and then see what shows up. That spaciousness that you allow. Miracles happen. Just miracles happen. It's kind of like being miracle minded. It's preparing your mind to receive. That's another part of acceptance and allowing it's the ability to receive. When we talk about power, we're the Son of God, for goodness sake. We're Christ Consciousness. We're the Son of the Creator of The Universe. So why would we believe that we don't have power when we're told that all the powers Jesus had, we have and more, when he walked the Earth and in his little elevated self of form, where his Christ Consciousness when he walked the Earth? There's a couple of things. First, I think we don't believe it. We don't trust it or we're afraid of it. We're just afraid of that power. We're such control freaks anyway. And to have that access to that power is about giving up control.

[00:14:55.470] - Helen Reynolds

We are such control freaks. Oh, yeah, we're raised to believe that. We have to figure it out. I really like that you said that before we're brought up to be working, like spend the rest of our lives figuring every single little thing out.  Coming back to not believing in Jesus - I think a lot of people have an innate sense that organised religion isn't for them. And then once they've decided not to go into organised religion, well, then they don't go into the Bible or the Jesus story or any of that - at all. That was me. So that's why I can sort of say that, I guess. But once A Course of Love came along with its very Christian language and all this, it's from Jesus.  I had to let him in,

[00:15:54.690] - Lana Carolan

be willing.

[00:15:55.930] - Helen Reynolds

I had to be willing. But I also could sense very clearly that A Course of Love wasn't a religion. It wasn't contained in that man made way.

[00:16:08.850] - Lana Carolan

Yes. There was no fear and guilt. Imagine that. Imagine even a spiritual teaching that it wasn't fear of guilt or suffering. I was raised Catholic and if you suffered enough, they made you a Saint!  So, they were encouraging you to suffer!  I've made peace with my background. I love them all. Just be what you want to be. It's fine with me.

[00:16:45.230] - Helen Reynolds

Well, that little side note took us off the acceptance and the relationship. I'm sorry to have interrupted that now Lana.

[00:16:53.060] - Lana Carolan

Oh, it was great.

[00:16:55.540] - Helen Reynolds

You did remind me of a quote, though, because you were talking about power. And this is from - it's basically the fifth last chapter in A Course of Love. It's from day 36, verse14. Because you have always been one in being with God. This power, this power of being has always been yours. The power to feel love, hate, anger, compassion, greed, humility and longing has always been yours. The power to think rationally or passionately, logically or instinctively has always been yours. The power to create everything from weapons of mass destruction to cathedrals of towering Majesty has always been yours. The power to know or perceive, even an unreal reality has always been yours.

[00:18:04.670] - Lana Carolan

Now that's something. We make up unreal stuff and make it real. Sometimes I'll get really passionate about healing and I'll get upset with the ego. You're not going to invade my mind infect my mind again. And it's like I'm just standing on the mountain top, like this gorilla banging its chest, just affirm I'm powerful. I have the power of God running through me. And just like Jesus said in the Bible, get behind me, Satan. I'll say, get behind me, ego. God is in the house, and I'll be very passionate about it. It's like claiming your power. You have to claim it. And for me, it's a very passionate thing. I'm claiming my power. Usually for me, I'm not into material things at all, but where my health is concerned. And so I can function better in this body, I will get behind me back pain, get behind me heart - you better pump a little stronger. It's like I claim my power. And the other thing that I think is helpful for me is I try to..you know, in A Course in Miracles says God is in. God is with me wherever I go. So I take God with me everywhere.

[00:19:44.680] - Lana Carolan

And it also keeps my mind out of trouble. I'll cook with God. I'll have conversations with them just like I'm having with you. Not out loud. People will talk, but I'll just remind myself that he's present. I'll paint with God. I'll write with God. So I'll go to bed at night with God. And I try to incorporate God in as much of my day as I can. And always keeping being mindful, that practise with me wherever I go. Another thing I don't know whether we talk about this a whole lot, but it's really claiming the truth of who you are. Like we were just talking about before the I think it was before you started recording. But the one thing I know with certainty is I exist. I exist. And if I close my eyes, there may not be a world, there may not be a body, but I exist. And that I or I am is very sacred to me. It's like the Holy name of God, just like saying God is I am and that's it. And I have to watch what I put after the I am, because if I'm not careful, I'll become that.

[00:21:21.170] - Lana Carolan

My identity, I'll misidentify myself as I am sick or I am broke or I am sad or all of a sudden who I am is sadness. Who I am is bankrupt. I rephrase it sometimes, and I might say I have sadness within me. I have some sad energy that's passing through and I let it pass through. But the I am of me, the perfect creation, that Christ consciousness, that's one with everything, everything - the all of the all. There's nothing outside of it. It's, you know, that's a pure place. I can go in stillness and just remember I am. And it's really interesting the way it works for me because I could be upset about something and I will get still and go to that. I am part of me. And it's like it's pulling me home. Once I choose to go there, to go into the pure essence and truth of who I am and not bring anything else along with it. None of the objective reality comes with me, just the essence of who I am as one with God and one with all creation. And I rest there. I rest in the truth of who I am and everything else I've dissociated from.

[00:23:03.710] - Lana Carolan

I've disassociated from the weather. If we're having a snowstorm or my grouchy daughter or my roommate or whatever, my bank account, I'm with God right now. I am with the essence of who I am and every layer of grievance or worry. It's like they use that analogy about the sky, the blue sky and the clouds passing by. My essence is the sky. And all these little upsets and grievances are like the clouds. And we can let the sky become one big cloud, grey, ugly cloud. And then we'll see a little patch of blue breaking through, reminding us the sky is still there. No matter what I put in front of it all. God is always there. My essence is always here, always shining through. So I just need to get a window or something and push those clouds away so the blue sky can shine through.  That's the infinite part of the I am.

[00:24:21.030] - Helen Reynolds

You've had near death experiences, but also in other interviews with people who've had really profound or are able to really explain their near death experience is a better way to say it. That's the I am that witnesses everything that goes on that is still. They talk about it being extraordinarily alive and vibrant in its beingness, I guess. So hard to put words around these things, isn't it? And peaceful and loving. And more than one guest has said, I didn't want to come back if it wasn't for my husband or my kids or those relationships where we really care deeply about another.

[00:25:13.110] - Lana Carolan

Someone once told me that it was the safest thing they've ever done - dying. That's how it felt to me because there was absolutely no fear. It was like, oh, it's okay if you go. It's okay if you stay. There wasn't a right or a wrong, whatever you want to do, it's fine. And it was a very peaceful. I didn't meet any entities. It was more of expanded awareness for me. And also it was miraculous in that I experienced really true oneness with everything. There was no delineation between my hospital bed and the tree outside or the lamp on the table. I had consciousness. I was conscious of everything and it didn't even have anything to do with the body. It was like I wasn't in the body or out of the body. It had nothing to do with the body. I was just this really free consciousness that was part of everything. And it was glorious. It was just a glorious experience, very peaceful, even joyful. But I didn't get up to the Pearly Gates to meet anybody!  It was just my own experience, my own expanded awareness. Taking it all in.

[00:26:48.810] - Helen Reynolds

Nothing's going to take away your sense of humour.

[00:26:52.470] - Lana Carolan

Oh, no, you got to laugh. I mean this place is really ridiculous. So you got to keep your sense of humour.

[00:27:03.510] - Helen Reynolds

It is ridiculous at times, isn't it? Probably all the time.

[00:27:10.110] - Lana Carolan

Most of the time. But you got to have to heal is to make happy. That's a line from the Course. So I guess the power for me comes in the doing. It's like motivation for me. I'll say, oh, I've got to finish this painting. I promise it to somebody. And I'll try to motivate myself. And Jesus said, Just sit down and do it. And in the sitting down and doing it, I become motivated. I get all excited about it. But until I get my buns off that chair and come over here to the drafting table and find out that it's a joy to do. And I think it's with our power too. We just have to claim it and assume it and do it. And our power comes from experiencing it. I'm not going to get this power from reading about it in the book or talking about it or hearing somebody else talk about it. It's like claiming it. It's like the painting. I have to stand on that mountain and beat my chest saying, I'm the Son of God. You got that? I'm the Son of God and believe it to the every fibre of my being. And then I'll just be it for that day I'll just be the Son of God because being it's like when Gandhi said, be the change you want to see in the world.

[00:28:51.740] - Lana Carolan

And I do this too, because of the teachings of giving and receiving our one. That's so true. I mean, if you could feel the spiritual energy that's rising up in me now just from sharing the love of God with you, and as I give, I receive. It works backwards. And human nature will say, let me get to know you, and then I'll love you.

[00:29:19.990] - Helen Reynolds

Oh, yeah, withhold our love only for those worthy enough.

[00:29:24.400] - Lana Carolan

Yeah. But divine nature tells us - love Him in order to get to know Him. It's the whole reversal. So looking at life that way, if I want to experience peace, I extend peace. If I want to experience joy, I'll extend joy. I remember when my daughter was battling addiction and she would come over here really upset and then some. What do you say? Interesting moods. And my guidance from Jesus was, the only thing you can do for your daughter is love her, but that's the most powerful thing you can do. And so my job, however she showed up on the phone or at the door, was to hold a place of peace for her. I would hold the peace for her because she couldn't. And I would extend that peace and she literally calmed down. And same thing on the phone. I could sense in the tone of her voice and in her energy that she had calmed down. We're that powerful. We're that powerful. We can extend joy and peace and healing. If you're sick, all I have to do is tell you, I will see you perfect. I will see only the light in you and your perfection.

[00:30:58.770] - Lana Carolan

I will see you healed, Holy and perfect. So when our brothers can't do it, we do it for them. The only thing they have to be is willing. They don't have to heal themselves in order to be healed. They can be wherever they are. Holy Spirit meets us wherever we are. They just have to be willing. And then I can be an instrument for them. I can extend peace to them. And they'll feel that if it's authentic and sooner or later, you got to be authentic. You get to the point, especially, you got to be who you are, warts and all, because you find out that if I'm not, who am I going to fool - God?!. Oh, this is a secret. I can't tell you God. You've got to be authentic to yourself. And sometimes for the sake of appearing spiritual, we might be crying on the inside, but showing off being a bliss mini on the outside and all it does is it causes disharmony.  Because you're inside. However you are, we should always be in harmony with ourselves, whatever that looks like, because we're only fighting, battling ourselves when we do that. If we need healing, we seek healing.

[00:32:37.070] - Lana Carolan

If we're happy, we'd be happy. If you want to cry, cry, you know, whatever is authentic. I think everything is either a lesson or a blessing. I call them blessons and it's all for my benefit. It's all for about healing. And when you pray for something, say, I pray about scarcity and more scarcity shows up. Well, Holy Spirit will keep bringing it up until I really forgive it. And for me, when that happened, the lesson wasn't about money. It wasn't about money at all. It was a realisation that I'm always sustained by the love of God, no matter what it is, no matter what I need. And my life, especially in these later years, has been a testimony. And I'll say, Well, Holy Spirit, I wonder how you're going to work this one out. What trick are you going to pull out? Because when we trust God, just solutions come up in unimagined ways. That's all I can say. We're not going to our ego grab bag and trying to find a solution.  That can get you really depressed! Because the only thing the ego has is your past. It's, it's only point of reference.

[00:34:03.140] - Lana Carolan

So if an answer isn't in your past, you think one doesn't exist and you fall into a state of hopelessness. All the while we have access to the infinite mind of God. It's like google God - we've got it all!  And we just have to return our mind to God and invite him to answer whatever question we have and then stop the thinking. Allow that information to be delivered to the mind. It's not a thinking process. The experience is like, oh, where did that come from? Where did that come from? It's like you didn't participate in that. It just was deliberate.

[00:34:55.450] - Helen Reynolds

The thoughts. You didn't think.

[00:34:58.210] - Lana Carolan

Yeah, you didn't think. And when we slow down our thinking, that space gives us space for some light to shine in. Jesus once told me, you need not know the answer to a problem in order for it to be solved. That was the end of my hopelessness. Well, now, the question I asked most often about anything is what is the truth of this? Because that's the only thing I want. I want to know the truth about me, you, the world, my child, whatever. When I'm confused, I want clarity. I want certainty. And if something, anything that shows up that is in variance to my experience of what the truth is, I'll ask, what is the truth of this? It sure, it looks crazy to me! I will get an answer and I know it's from Holy Spirit because it brings those things with it. I know it's Holy Spirit, because I receive clarity, certainty, and peace. There's never any fear. There's never any confusion, and there's a certainty about it. There's no doubt associated. Like, I have a no and only Holy Spirit can do that. My ego certainty. My ego. No.

[00:36:33.890] - Helen Reynolds

Our egos aren't very what about peace?  My ego doesn't have peace

[00:36:41.390] - Lana Carolan

doesn't do peace at all.

[00:36:47.310] - Helen Reynolds

I'm wondering if you share your experiences on extending.

[00:36:54.330] - Lana Carolan

Well, it would depend on the situation. Sometimes I mentor about, I guess six students now, new students to A Course in Miracles. And most of the time I hear from them is when they're in pain, mainly emotional pain. If they're happy, I don't hear from them. But if they're in pain, they'll call me. And if I'm with them in person and they're in pain, the first thing I have to realise is that they're focused on their pain or they're upset. They're not going to hear a word I say. So I try to just listen to them so they can feel heard. I just listen. And when they feel complete, then I know they'll start listening to what I have to say and I can start extending the truth to them by sharing it. And then I'll start to feel their energy pick up. And it's so funny. Like I was sharing with you earlier. It's like this explosion of love, and it comes from two people sharing the love of God. I'm not doing any magic tricks or anything. I'm just sharing my heart. I'm sharing my truth. I'm sharing my love. And as long as the authenticity of it, you can't really fake love.

[00:38:29.290] - Lana Carolan

You can't really fake peace. And if I'm not in a peaceful place, I'll say, I have to call you back later. I need to heal my mind, because if my mind is not healed, I'm not going to help anybody else. Right? So I'll heal my mind. But with the healed mine, it's miraculous. It's so satisfying. And I can read energy pretty good. So like I was talking about my daughter showing up and being upset. Well, I know that before she even comes in the door, I can just feel her energy. So I know that I'm going to have to be a place of peace for her. So that's what I'll do. And I'll just let her be whatever. I don't resist or try to fix anybody or try to change anybody, but I do let them be what they're being until that's no longer captivating for them. And I think they just need to be heard. And we used to do this at Hospice, when I worked at Hospice, these people that were getting ready to transition, and there were things that they wanted to unload, but they didn't feel comfortable with their family members.

[00:39:51.230] - Lana Carolan

So we were like, we used to tease and say we were the garbage disposal. We would just hear them and you could see them lighten up, lighten up. It's like they were able to unload it. But I'll say, I have a little caveat to this. There's two ways of sharing, and I don't allow one. The one way is sharing for the purpose of healing, and the other way is sharing to have your story validated by someone engaged with. Yeah. So I'm not going to validate anybody's story. I'll listen to their stories. I've heard some great stories, but I'm not going to say, oh, you poor thing, what a horrible they've already made their story real and I'm not going to jump in. But if they're sharing with the intention of letting it go and to heal, well, then I'm all there. And sometimes I will just hold their hand and let them let it go. Because most of the time it is for the nobody wants to be in pain. And when they remember that and when they do, I can sense when someone wants me to validate their story and tell them it's real. But even if they start out that way, they usually when I remind them of that, I'm not going to validate your story, but I will help them heal it.

[00:41:35.010] - Lana Carolan

It's like they'd forgotten, but they knew, they knew but they had just forgotten. And it's like, of course, and then that's beautiful. So it can take on many forms. But if I'm not near the person, I can't talk to the person. I'll just see them in light. I'll just envision them in light. And when I said, I'll see you perfect, I'll see you whole, I'll see you healed. And just hold them in a golden light. And that will be my visual meditation for as long as it's comfortable doing it. And that's all I'll say. My heart is your heart. My love is your love. My truth is your truth. We are one. So I'm kind of a transfer there of our Truths coming together and joining us one. And that's a lovely way to do it, too. It's all about joining, relationship, giving, receiving, being one. We're already one. And we get to know that's true when we are in service or we're sharing the love of God. When we're extending love in any way, in any kindness, compassion, a smile. I mean, you can smile right now and you'll feel your energy shift. Just as soon as you smile, your energy shift.

[00:43:23.550] - Lana Carolan

I love to give a smile.  There is this little lady at the 7-11 and she looks sad all the time. So I flash her smile whenever I go in there and sometimes she'll accept it and smile back to me. And sometimes she won't. But the time she does, I can see that she got it. So for a Holy Instant in time, love was given and love was received just with a smile. And just a little bit of love can heal so much. It's all love all the time anyway.

[00:43:53.990] - Helen Reynolds

A Course of Love talks about it, how we withhold our love. And I can remember back to definitely doing that in my life before I understood how much pain it was creating only giving out to people who had proven themselves trustworthy of my love.

[00:44:16.410] - Lana Carolan

Yes.

[00:44:17.340] - Helen Reynolds

Oh, my gosh, what an ordeal. Trying to work all that out.

[00:44:21.380] - Lana Carolan

Oh, my God, it's exhausting.

[00:44:24.510] - Helen Reynolds

You took the words right out of my mouth.

[00:44:27.330] - Lana Carolan

It's exhausting. And the thing of it is that in the Kingdom, in God's Kingdom, in reality, it's all about sharing and extension. That's all that happens there, because everybody, we know our wholeness, we know our completeness. So I'll ask Jesus, what am I going to do with all this love? Sometimes I feel like I'm going to explode. And he says, Just keep giving it away. Just keep giving it away. Sharing the love of God. That's why I write on Facebook. I'm just sharing the love of God. And you wouldn't believe the number of times people will comment and say, that's exactly what I needed to hear. It's like, Holy Spirit knows who's going to read my post? And he says, oh, we're going to write about this today because so and so needs to read it. I just feel like my only ambition is to be a servant of God in whatever way he wants me to be one. But it's always service is a very sacred vocation and whatever that is, whether for me, it's writing and sharing the love of God. So it brings me joy. And to me, whenever somebody tells me they're depressed, I'll say, Go share the love of God.

[00:45:53.220] - Lana Carolan

It'll joy, you right up. It'll make you happy or do something for somebody, be of service, but come from a place of giving, not getting. So about giving and extending. And again, we try it, we see it works and we do it. It's logical.

[00:46:17.800] - Helen Reynolds

Those games, the spiritual games that you talked about a little while ago, they're so much fun, aren't they? I still play them every day because there's such little confirmations and rewards and they're not reaffirmations, they're reconfirming. I guess they validate. That's the word. Thanks, Lana.

[00:46:44.150] - Lana Carolan

It's like both A Course of Love and A Course in Miracles , they prove themselves. When I first started reading A Course of Love, I recognised the experience, but I didn't recognise the word symbols. So I started looking beyond the words to what the experience would be like. And I go, oh, I know that I've been there before or I've experienced that before. And then I would relate it back to A Course in Miracles and I just feel like one is just a seamless continuation of another. You know, A Course in Miracles showed me who I am, taught me about forgiveness and forgive, being forgiving. And of A Course of Love is teaching me how to be this now that I know who I am, how to be that, how to function like Jesus did, in form, but still be aware of my Christ Consciousness. So  A Course of Love is a navigational tool. Again, Jesus is just, ah, he's a master at communication. I just love the way he communicates, not only in his books, but what he communicates to me as a very good sense of humour.

[00:48:17.450] - Helen Reynolds

Everyone says that, yeah, I'm yet to experience it, I guess, but it comes through in other ways. If it's not direct communication, sometimes really funny, insignificant things will happen.

[00:48:38.450] - Lana Carolan

I call them God Winks. It says pay attention or someone will open a book, maybe  A Course of Love  to exactly the page you needed to read or someone will say something or share on a conference call, something you needed to hear. Holy Spirit Jesus, it will reach you. You just have to be open. You just have to be open. When I write, I do what I call meditative writing in the morning and it's no thinking at all. It's just a stream of thought coming through me and it's a real good lesson on form and content because the form the way it shows up on Facebook the form is Lana, all her typo's and everything, but the content is pure Jesus. The content comes through as Jesus and then by the time I get done typing it up and posting it how it shows up, it looks like Lana, but it's no effort at all. No thinking, no effort. It just comes through. But it's always to teach me first or remind me of things. I forgot about that yesterday but then I'm excited to share it because I feel like if something helps me and I can share it and even if it helps one person, you know, great.  That's one person that might have been relieved of some pain. So that's wonderful.

[00:50:25.600] - Helen Reynolds

Well, I could talk all afternoon, Lana, but I don't think I should.

[00:50:30.330] - Lana Carolan

I hope I didn't babble too much.

[00:50:32.040] - Helen Reynolds

It's been a delight. It's been a delight. So that's it for this episode of the More Love podcast. For all the references and the things we talked about in this conversation with Lana, head to the website Live True To You dot com and follow the links to the More Love Podcast.  Please tell someone else who wants their power back about the More Love Podcast. They'll be forever grateful that you've helped them reclaim their true state of being. Until we join together again I wish you all the blessings that wholeheartedness.  Bye for now.