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Our Romance Reverend
gives readers tips on how to get ready for true love on
a deep and soulful level. Read on if you are ready to
take the next steps on your personal road to romance.
Bring Light and Healing to Your Family
for the Holidays
Graceful may not be the first word that comes to mind
when you think of your family holiday gatherings.
Perhaps you love your family, but you realize they need a
little … work. No family is perfect and not every family
is as conscious as you'd like them to be, but there is
hope. You can be the bringer of light in your house and
with your relatives ... the one who lovingly tries to
bring healing and joy to the tribe.
A family-friendly ritual:
In A Goddess Is A Girl's Best Friend, the Roman
Goddess Lucina (know in modern times as St. Lucy) is
portrayed as the bringer of light. She has the ability to
see with spiritual eyes, and she teaches us to do the
same. This gives us greater compassion and allows us
to see things as they are … and, also, as they can be.
Call upon her energy to help you in your role as light
bringer to your family during this holiday season.
Mini Rituals of thanks and love
There are many ways to evoke a sense of closeness and
evoke that warm and toasty family feeling. In fact,
you can turn the meal into a sacred event that everyone
can easily participate in - without them even knowing!
This will turn a ho-hum gathering into "a
moment" that can uplift all. (By the way, you can
adapt this to a gathering of friends, too!)
1. Hug a loved one: During the schmoozing
part of the family gathering, before the food is served,
forget about meaningless chit-chat. Instead, hug the
people you love and tell each them something you love
and/or appreciate about them. This can be a complement
about someone's hair, outfit or cooking, to an
acknowledgment of someone's sweet nature, kindness,
generosity, brilliance, et al. Hugging, along with
offering a few kind words, is a warm expression that can
do wonders. It will automatically raise the energy of the
gathering.
2. Play a piece of music. Music opens the
heart and uplifts the spirit. Make sure you bring some
terrific, inspiring CDs to the family gathering and or
select family favorites that everyone can relate to and
maybe even sing along to. Any music and song that warms
the heart will get people in a good mood and settle their
energy.
3. Say Grace. Even if your family has
never said a dinner prayer in their lives, suggest one
this year; or add this prayer to the customary grace that
is said at dinner. Adapt this prayer to your families'
religious and spiritual beliefs:
Mother, Father, God, Divine Spirit of all there is, we
thank you for this opportunity to gather together in one
another's company. We thank you for the light you bring to
this family gathering.
Family life has its ups and downs, but when all is said
and done, here we are, together again. Please grant us the
vision to see the highest in one another, and grant us the
opportunity to continue to be there for each other in good
times, as well as not-so-great-times.
Give us strength and fortitude to ride the tides of
change, and empower us always to be nurturing and loving
with one another. Open our spiritual eyes that we may see
one another for who we truly are … and love one other in
the same spirit.
May sadness, disappointment and anger be minimal; may
happiness, positive thoughts and good experiences together
be bountiful. May we always cope, and hope, with each
other… with grace.
We thank the Divine for this delicious dinner, prepared
with love. May all consumed here tonight fill us with
health and well-being. Amen. Dig in!
4. Close with desert and thankfulness. At
the end of the meal, invite everyone to sit and enjoy
wonderful desserts, and then ask them to take a moment to
think of something that they are thankful for. Go
around the table and let everyone speak (if they want). It
may seem a little awkward at first (especially for the
family jokesters) but people love it! It's gets them
thinking and it gives them a platform for speaking and
sharing.
Wishing you and yours a Happy Hanukah (begins sundown on
December 19), Merry Christmas (December 25), Good Kwanza
(December 26), Glorious Yule (December 22), Light-filled
St. Lucy’s Day (December 13) Blessed Ramadan (Through December 17) and a Fabulous Solstice
(December 22). May you have plenty of opportunities to
gather and say grace. May this Holiday Season be blessed
in all ways!
Rev. Laurie Sue’s column this month is
adapted from her book, A Goddess
Is A Girl's Best Friend: A Divine Guide To Finding Love,
Success and Happiness, Laurie Sue Brockway, (Perigee
Books, December 2002, $14.95).
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The
Romance Reverend’s Tools for the Heart and Soul
Here are the Romance
Reverend's favorite goodies to uplift the spirit
and
enhance your relationship to yourself and others this
December.
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 Goddess Gift Basket: The grace of the Goddess
can be yours, and is yours to share as a holiday gift for
the loved ones on your list. I am so proud to be a part of
The Mandala Collection's wonderful gift basket,
"Honoring the Goddess Within."
This beautiful
basket is brimming with a soulful and sacred combination
of products and tools for honoring the divine goddess
within. It is artfully designed and arranged in a basket
made of steamed willow bark, woven with mountain vine. It
contains a nurturing collection of gift items for honoring
the divine goddess within, including: a Sterling Silver
"Goddess" Medallion Pendant, Tibetan Silk Scarf
in Silvered Gray, "Melong" Singing Bowl Gift Box
Set, "Love Rose" Stationery Packet, and
"Lavender" 16-Point Star Candle. Gift Basket
pictured, $130.00. Gift Baskets can be customized and
begin at $75. Click
here for more information and to order.
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 Goddess
Book: You can also further customized your basket with
a copy of A Goddess Is A Girl’s Best Friend: A
Divine Guide To Finding Love, Success and Happiness
(Perigee Books, December 2002) which features 31 Goddesses
from the world’s traditions and includes hundreds of
prayers, rituals, exercises and tips on how to honor the
divine Goddess in you in every day life. It’s a perfect
addition to your "Honoring The Goddess Within"
Gift Basket and can show you and the Goddesses in your
life how to use the items in your gift basket to create
more love, success and happiness in your life! Order it
with the basket for an additional $15 or purchase it
directly from Amazon.com.
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 Goddess
Granola: This yummy, natural, high protein treat that
is so delicious you will want to eat it all before you
even get to give it as a gift! This ain’t your mother’s
granola. It’s so utterly sweet and snacky and delicious
you won’t believe its granola. Goddess Granola
encourages you to "feed your passion, creativity and
zest for life with our all natural, wheat free and
cholesterol free, divinely delicious and oh so satisfying
granola." And they are not kidding when they promise
it’s "guaranteed to feed the Goddess Within."
Like Soulful Living, it’s a Goddess owned and Goddess
run business. Ten percent of net profits go to The Goddess
Good Fund whose mission is to empower women to fulfill
their potential. They even have a Goddess of the Month,
and for the Month of December, the Goddess is moi. J
Goddess Granola comes in Ginger, Genuine and Just For
Kids; 7 oz ($3.50), 15 oz $5.50, 30 oz. $11, and box of 15
1.75 oz snack bags. Check is out at www.GoddessGranola.com
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© Copyright 2003 Reverend Laurie Sue Brockway All Rights
Reserved.
Read
Reverend Laurie Sue's Past Columns:
November
2003 - "Even In Midlife,
We Can All Use A Fairy Godmother"
October
2003 - "The Secret to Serenity"
May
2003 - "A
Gathering of Goddesses: Our Girlfriends Keep Us Real"
April
2003 - "Love Has Its Own Schedule"
March
2003 - "A Spring Time Reawakening To Soulful Love
and Self Love"
February
2003 - "Marry Yourself First..."
December
2002 - "Who is the Goddess?" & "The
Goddess Rocks!"
October
2002 - "How to Clear Your Love Clutter"
August
2002 - "How to Mourn a Broken Heart and Lost
Love"
July
2002 - "Relationships That Nurture and Inspire
Growth of the Soul
June
2002 - "Finding Peace in a Turbulent World"
May
2002 - "Sacred Sexuality For Modern Men and
Women"
April
2002 - "When Someone You Love Pushes Your Buttons"
March
2002 - "When Life Has You Down, Remember You Are
Loved"
February
2002 - "Plan a Valentine's Day Team Date"
January
2002 - "Do I Hear Him Knocking … From the Other
Side?"
December
2001 - "How Do We Make Our Love Dreams Come True?"
November
2001 - "What is the Future of Love?"
October
2001 - "Getting to Know
'Lakshmi'
the Goddess of Good Fortune"
September
2001 - "Can't Hurry Love... It Will Happen in Its Right Moment"
August
2001 - "Family Rituals Help Us Grow Into Loving Beings"
July
2001 - "Dreams Warn It’s Time To Own Your Power"
June
2001 - "A Fun Visual of Your Favorite Romance"
May 2001 - "Someday
Your Mystical Soul Mate Will Come"
April
2001 - "Enjoy the Merriment and Fun of An Ancient Love
Holiday"
March
2001 - "Nourish Yourself On a Date for One"
February
2001 - "Get Ready for Soulful Love"
Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway is
an interfaith minister who is often called upon to
teach, speak and write about women’s spirituality and
The Feminine Faces of God. She is author of, A GODDESS
IS A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND: A DIVINE GUIDE TO FINDING
LOVE, SUCCESS AND HAPPINESS, from Perigee Books,
December 2002.
For more information:
Website: www.GoddessFriends.com
or to join "The Goddess
List" for inspirational and informational
electronic message, Email: GoddessLaxmi@aol.com
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