by Terilee Wunderman, photos by David Sand
Based on his wonderful new book, You Are the Blessings: Meditations and Reflections on Life, God and Us, John Morton facilitated our delightful and uplifting April webclass. From Africa, South America, Indonesia, throughout the United States and the heart of Santa Monica, our spiritual family tuned in together to experience the blessings we truly are. We shared a heartfelt, joyous evening as we realized more than ever before that we are God’s blessings, always in all ways.
Our evening began with the beautiful Alexandra Roberts welcoming us all and introducing us to the purpose and guidelines for our webclasses. Alexandra showed us John Morton’s new book and encouraged us to read and enjoy his profound words of inspiration and comfort. Alexandra noted that You Are the Blessings is filled with messages of loving which is what Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA) and John Morton, MSIA’s Spiritual Director, are all about.
Two Moments of Peace with John-Roger, founder of MSIA, helped us remember the blessings of children and how we all are God’s children in our loving hearts. John Morton then joined us and asked us to look at how we ourselves are God’s blessings. John reflected on the ten blessings that John-Roger identified — Loving, Caring, Sharing, Health, Wealth, Happiness, Prosperity, Abundance, Riches and Touching — and how we are each of those blessings. John then stepped into the studio audience, shaking hands with some fellow blessings, and encouraging us wherever we are to reach out and offer the blessings of a loving, caring touch to one another.
John reminded us that our breath, which comes from a divine source, is confirmation that we are inherently good. Look for the good in each and every situation, John encouraged us, because every situation is inherently good. John then guided us through a partner process, either with a physical partner or by following the handout provided on the web. Through a series of poignant questions, we looked within to discover more fully how we truly are the blessings in our challenges. We then realized how challenges themselves can be blessings in our lives. An abundance of blessings unfolded in often surprising yet deeply comforting ways, bringing forward the joy of knowing who we truly are — God’s Beloveds.
To help us see more fully how we are the blessings, John invited questions from the studio audience and around the world. Questions reflected a variety of topics, including worship, ambition, tithing, handling fear, and getting what we want. In each sharing, I heard John encourage us to see how each and every thing, person and situation is a blessing for us and how we are the blessings as well.
John encouraged us to love what is here and now, and appreciate and care for the opportunities that are present in this very moment. He reminded us to be thankful for everything, including the air we breathe, food we eat, and having a place to live. John noted that tithing, in its essence, is about giving the value of what we have received and is most importantly about our divine partnership with God. When we encounter difficulties, John reassured us we can always return to the loving. Remember that loving will prevail, John said as he closed the evening, and that’s the eternal good news.
Before signing off for the evening, Alexandra thanked us all for tuning in and let us know about upcoming MSIA events in Southern California as well as our next webcast, an Open Question and Answer Evening with John Morton, on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 6:30 pm PST. Tune in at www.msia.org/live.
To discover more about knowing “You Are the Blessings,” watch the archive of the webclass at www.msia.org/archives and purchase You Are the Blessings: Meditations and Reflections on Life, God and Us at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com.
“Welcome the blessings of who you are, and remember to give your heartfelt thanks, a prayer of praise and faith in God’s blessing upon all things.”
John Morton (From: You Are the Blessings: Meditations and Reflections on Life, God and Us, page xviii)
Baruch Bashan
The Blessings Already Are
You are the Blessings