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Reverend Laurie Sue Brockway, The Romance Reverend

Soulful Love
December 2003

A Goddess is a Girl's Best Friend by Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway
Rev. Laurie Sue's Newest Book:
A Goddess is a Girl's Best Friend

by Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway


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).


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.


Goddess Gift BasketGoddess 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.



A Goddess is a Girl's Best FriendGoddess 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.

 



Goddess GranolaGoddess 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

© 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

 

Visit Reverend Laurie Sue at:
www.GoddessFriends.com


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