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What beliefs about money did you learn before you were old enough to question them? At CSL Ballard, Rev. Michael Auch opened our October theme, Dances with Shadows, by sharing his own money ghosts: not worthy, not deserving, not enough. Drawing on Ernest Holmes and Don Miguel Ruiz, this reflection looks at where these shadows come from, why they stick, and how to spot them sooner. Plus, a simple gratitude practice to try tomorrow morning.

What happens when you affirm "I am at peace" with clenched fists? At CSL Ballard, Rev. Marilyn Sprague closed out our Sacred Embodiment month with a talk on living in alignment, when what we affirm matches how we live. She drew on Ernest Holmes, Louise Hay, and her own story about a pain that wouldn't heal until she made a different choice. Plus, a simple practice for listening to your body, and a Core Council update.

Rev. Liz Mirante opened her talk by admitting something a lot of us don't say out loud: living easily in our bodies isn't always simple. This week, we looked at where those beliefs actually come from — religion, family, culture — and what it takes to build something better than criticism.

Our bodies do so much, yet we spend more time critiquing them than thanking them. Practitioner Cindy Clay, RScP opened September and our new theme, Sacred Embodiment, with hands worth looking at, a body that speaks in pain and relief, a king who danced anyway, and a daughter who finally did too. You're a living miracle. Say thank you

On Sunday, Rev. Liz Mirante closed out our Fear and the Furious theme with a tool for healing an old belief, not just managing it. You didn't install that belief. It got wired in around age five, long before you had any say. Revisit the three-part practice to release it, and why faith has to come before you feel any different.

Question: What if we left our masks off and instead brought our whole selves to our relationships? By the time we're five, we've already drawn conclusions about who we're allowed to be, largely through our family relationships. But who are we at five? This is long before we can apply wisdom and make choices about who we are. We think, "If they really knew me, they wouldn't like me." But is that really true? Likely not.

Most of the time, we don't notice our running monologue or the habitual thinking underneath everything, deciding what to criticize or excuse in ourselves, as if wholeness had to be earned. It doesn’t. We're already whole. There's no destination to reach. Science of Mind core concepts can help us be more conscious and live lives from a place of wholeness.

Our thoughts shape our world, and our automatic thoughts and responses may be limiting. How do we become more conscious of our automatic thoughts, so that we can be and bring love to everything we do? How can we change our response to effectively heal the world by healing ourselves?

How can you use doubt as a doorway to greater awareness and a better life experience? Rev. Gary shares ideas about how to make doubt our friend rather than foe, how to use it so it no longer stops us from creating the life we desire. When we reframe our interpretation, we shift our mindset.

It may sound cliche but love is all around us. It's everywhere, all the time, all at once. When we see love as a way of being, rather than a feeling, it gets easier. It's all part of Oneness, the universal expression of divine connection. We just can't always see it, with so many distractions and active efforts to divide us. And yet, if we act from a place of love, we become love. We are love, at our core.

Cindy Clay talked about healing, revealing, and the power of vulnerability and sharing our stories to become who we're meant to be. It's how we surrender shame and blame and become our true, authentic selves. It's important to only share with those who deserve to hear them.

By exploring our own inner world, and applying spiritual principles to our inner experience, we’re better equipped to meet the world beyond us. The inner edge shapes the outer one.