Spirit Rising Ministries

Did you know there are five concrete steps you can take to experience more happiness and inner peace? In this longer video, I outline the steps that have helped me grow spiritually and live a happier, more peaceful life.

https://archive.org/details/TIBSPaulaRichards062918_201807

Hi everyone,
Immersing myself in the meditative process of creating art led me to a deeper exploration of self and spirituality. As I watched my life unfold in ever more amazing ways, I eventually felt guided to share my story in writing in hopes of helping others. Here is an excerpt from The Journey of Spirit Rising.
Book Excerpt

It is with profound gratitude for Dr. Wayne Dyer that I dedicate this blog to his memory. He became my first spiritual mentor over thirty years ago when I read his book, Your Erroneous Zones. The entire trajectory of my life shifted because of his words back then, and he has helped keep me headed in the right direction ever since!

One of my favorite stories of his was when he told his mother that his teacher had called him a “scurvy elephant”. When she went to the school to investigate, she was told that what the teacher had actually said (that Wayne overheard) was that he was a “disturbing element”! Even as a young child, he had begun questioning things and found the courage to speak the truth. One of the greatest things he taught me was to always be true to myself – and, more importantly, to know my true self. Now I give presentations titled, Will the Real You Please Stand Up!

Thank you, Dr. Wayne for helping me remember the truth about who I am and for helping me find the courage to be a “scurvy elephant” too. I love you and trust that your teaching will continue to touch us all from the Spirit world. After all, that’s always been your true home.

Let your spirit soar!

Paula

Hello dear readers,

I haven’t written for a while. I could use busyness as an excuse, but the truth is I didn’t feel inspired. I want to make sure that I am only passing on thoughts that come through me from Spirit – not “Paula’s” idle musings! That being said, I was recently moved by a video I saw on service animals. This young boy, Matt, is epileptic, and he now has a service dog. Merlin can sense an oncoming seizure long before it occurs, giving Matt’s family time to medicate/protect him.

It was what Matt’s mother said that really got my attention: “When Merlin looks up into Matt’s face, he doesn’t see a kid with epilepsy. He sees the most perfect creation God ever made. If you see that sort of adoration reflected back at you day after day, it changes the way you feel about yourself.” Wow! Isn’t that exactly what A Course in Miracles has been trying to teach me to do for all these years? To look right past what my senses are showing me, and see God’s perfection in everyone and everything?!

We just never know how Spirit is going to reach us with His message of love. We need to pay attention, because love is all around us. And love is God’s perfect creation.

Let your spirit soar!
Paula

I have heard reference to the three P’s of passion, power and purpose, but there are another three P’s that I would like to discuss today; ones that don’t propel us forward but, instead, hold us back. Although I can’t find the exact line in A Course in Miracles right now, I remember it speaking about living from the perspective of our True Self; not feeling that we need to promote, protect or prove anything about ourselves. I realized that these are all behaviors of the ego. It is always trying to be noticed, be safe, or be right.

In an emergency situation, all these egoic behaviors fall away. We don’t stop to think how will I look, will I be harmed, or what’s in it for me. Our heart leads the way as we dive in and selflessly do whatever the situation calls for. What I’m learning is that our True Self is heart-centered. It doesn’t have to think about what to do. It knows that love is the answer to every situation. Maybe the next time I am about to judge someone, I would do well to think of it as an emergency situation – that they are crying out – crying out to be saved by love. Maybe then I will put the three P’s aside long enough to realize my True Self.

Let your spirit soar!

Paula

I got a parking ticket yesterday, and for a very foolish reason. I paid for the 1 ¼ hours I’d be gone, for space 357, and merrily went on my way. I returned in one hour to discover that I had a ticket. How did that happen?! Reviewing my steps, I remembered that I was busy practicing an upcoming speech in my head while I was paying for my parking space. I was distracted. I forgot to press the button that would complete the payment process.

Since I was already downtown, I went straight to the Town Hall and reluctantly paid the fifteen dollar fee. On the drive home I kept thinking about how I, literally, had to pay the price for not having been fully present earlier when I parked my car. Then I noticed that, all the way home, I kept thinking about being needlessly out that fifteen dollars. But, then came the deeper realization. Every moment I chose to spend thinking about the ticket meant that I was mentally “paying the price” once again.

Well! I thought. Paying once was quite enough! So, other than for the purpose of writing this blog, I completely let the story go. I am doing my best to stay present because, when I don’t, I always pay the price.

Let your spirit soar!

Paula

I drove four hours on Tuesday to attend my Uncle Ben’s funeral. He and my Aunt Thelma live way up in New Hampshire and I had not seen either of them for many years. I used to get to visit them and my two cousins when I was a little girl. I wondered if, after all these years, I would even remember what the house looked like. I didn’t. But, what I did, and always have remembered was the warmth, love and laughter I experienced when I used to go there.  Would it still feel like that? And, if so, what was their secret? How did they remain so happy, living what I considered to be such a modest, ordinary, simple life? Did they have a deep, spiritual practice like myself or, true to character, was it something much simpler?

The answer was revealed at the funeral service when the Pastor looked at my aunt and began playing her and Uncle Ben’s favorite song that, she said, they used to sing all the time:

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay

Mister Bluebird’s on my shoulder
It’s the truth, it’s actual
Ev’rything is satisfactual
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Wonderful feeling, wonderful day!

From Walt Disney’s Song of the South.

Thank you, Uncle Ben and Aunt Thelma, for the joy you added to the world and for showing me how to let the way be easy.

Let your spirit soar and may you have a zip-a-dee-do-dah day!

Paula

In a presentation I did for seniors where I work, one of the videos showed reunions between pets and their owners. The joyful exuberance with which they greeted each other was incredibly heartwarming, and it got me thinking. Everyone should know the joy of being greeted like that. And, what if every person we encounter, from the most loved to the most despised, is a long lost brother/sister from the spirit world who is just playing a role we asked them to play; someone we would joyfully reunite with if we remembered who they were? What if they are here to help us wake up from this worldly dream and remember the beautiful, divine truth about who we all really are?

A Course in Miracles says, “Let your awareness of your brother not be blocked by your perception of his sins and of his body. What is there in him that you would attack except what you associate with his body, which you believe can sin? Beyond his errors is his holiness and your salvation.” T-22.III.8

Instead of judging or fearing someone, what if we pictured ourselves joyfully embracing them as they step off the world’s stage and into our open arms in joyous reunion.

Who can you embrace today?

Let your spirit soar!

Paula