On December 25, 2015 I gave a talk at the combined Christmas Eve Services at Lily Dale.

Here is the entire talk I gave.

At this time of year, we put our focus of the Spirit of the Season and Peace on Earth.

Many feel Spirit is divine and completely separate from oneself. You may relate; I grew up as a Catholic in fear of God. It is only in the past 18 months that has changed for me.

Human spirit has a voice – call it conscience or intuition. Everyone has it. It is what we do with it that matters. Gandhi said it best:

There is a force in the Universe, which, if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results.

God, Spirit, Faith, Love and Hope. They all are intertwined. We all have a deeply personal and unique experience with Spirit. It boils down to the ability to have love and respect for God, Yourself and Everyone.

God usually comes first, the love and respect for yourself may be a struggle. Everyone means everyone – not just your friends or those that agree with your thinking. The greatest challenge for us is to have the faith to love those that anger, disappoint, disagree or hurt us. To not strike out but respond kindly. To let go of hate, anger and resentments we may experience.

It is hope for a greater community that we struggle together to achieve Peace on Earth. Spirit guides us all to make this happen. Too often people pat themselves on the back about what they do in the Spirit of Christmas.

The problem is, that Holiday Spirit everyone is talking about is how we should live every day. Words are cheap… Our actions mean everything. Holiday Spirit is not just something that has special meaning between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. We should live it daily; too often our humanity gets in the way. Like others, I strive to achieve this ideal. We all must remember the glory is not in attaining this ideal, it is in the attempt.

Tonight is Christmas Eve which celebrates the birth of Jesus. This is an opportunity to talk about the concept of the service of others. He not only talked the talk, he walked the walk. He was the Son of God, just as each of us are Children of God. We are no different than him. In fact, he suggested that we can do greater things than he achieved.

He is not only historically a great medium and healer, he is our example of how we are to live trusting Spirit. Trusting God in our lives and more importantly in the service of others. We know that “with God, all things are possible.” Why is it that we have such difficulty with the trust part?

Serving others doesn’t have to be grand gestures. This may be as simple as a smile, providing a healing, giving a message, a gesture and sometimes it can be greater. As humans in this age of Instant gratification; we lack patience. Social Media has made it harder for many to just pay it forward. We are all looking for that pat on the back; when just doing the right thing should be enough. Spirit knows your impact on the world, even if you are unaware.

As you open up to Spirit and trust, the more joy you will experience. Those that serve as message ministers, mediums and healers know exactly what I am talking about. It is that gift of giving….

Spirit dwells within you and Spirit works in a wondrous way through you. It is the silent voice you hear in your head. My own growing faith in Spirit has made the road to becoming a healer and medium easier. Step aside, let Spirit do its work through me. Walk my path, honor that voice and trust Spirit.

Each of our Spiritual journey’s will be full of challenges. Letting go of judgment, fear and ego will be a series of steps forward and back. Spirit is with us every step of the way and helps us be the best that we can be.

Sometimes Spirit uses us to help someone else. How many times have you changed course because you listened to that voice, and something wonderful happened? Not necessarily for you; but it was Spirit letting you know that you are loved, giving you the opportunity to help someone else.

Spirit knows what it is doing. It isn’t always about ourselves, and doing things selflessly without accolades is difficult. We need to always trust that Spirit will give us what is needed at the moment it is needed. For whomever it is needed. It is that faith — that provides each of us the love we need to be the bearers of hope in a world that so desperately needs it. Peace on Earth starts with each of us.

Remember that just because something isn’t happening for you at one moment; do not discount the fact that Spirit is using you to make something happen for someone else. I have learned that it is Spirit’s hope that we trust our inner voice, silence our egos and judgments to have the faith to love those that are in need of hope.

Selflessly, put our focus on others every day, not just today; help each other be the best that we can be. Not an easy task, but then again anything worth doing is never easy.