​I had a dream years ago that came up again as I was getting ready for the rest that works group last week.

In the dream, I was in a living room by the fire working with a big black Book of Questions (I can't remember if I was reading or writing in it). Mother Mary came in, walked over to me smiling sweetly, gently took the book of questions, closed it and put it in the fire. I didn't say anything - I mean you don't mess with Mary - but inside I was thinking, "That's mine, what are you doing?!!! I thought you were supposed to be nice!" Without discussion or fanfare she simply offered me a smaller, white Book of Insights.

As I awoke and prayed about the meaning I sensed, “Many of your questions are inadequate: Is it this or that? Should I do this or that? The answers lie deeper, in terms and nuances you don’t yet understand so you have to be open to guidance. They are more truly insights to live than specifics to apply.”

The rest that works is about living insights aligned with Our Creator's Love. As we do so we discover that there can be many workable specific answers to most problems. The spirit at work is much more important than the specifics and it tends to get the specifics aligned the right way (whatever they may be).

More power to you in living the insights aligned with God's Love for yourself, others and our wonderful world. Thanks for journeying together.

Blessings,
​Scott

​Think back to a moment when you really felt at peace. How would you describe the internal process that led to that experience? The rest that works is a way to intentionally cultivate the essentials of that internal process but it is even more than that: It is a way to open to and move with the Creative Forces of God. That brings a unique kind of peace often beyond understanding - like the peace at the heart of a flame.

There are some very interesting things about the well-known phrase in the Bible, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  First, there is a lot of passion in the passage. The call to be still is not from a reducing of energy but a climax, a call for a stopping of distractions to know and experience the power at the heart of the moment. The word for God in the passage is “Elohim.” It’s plural and it refers to a wide range of inexplicable mysterious manifestations of God. To me that emphasizes the Great I AM nature of God. It raises the “I Am that I Am” and “I will be Who I will be” dynamism of God (Exodus 3:14). As we have a knowing experience of the Creative Forces of God in us, it brings a peace beyond that which any disconnected external experience alone could bring.

Our job is not to figure God out. Our job is to open to Divine Expressions and work with them within and without. That’s exactly what the rest that works helps us do. Along the way, we realize that we really are are one such expression. Our feeling it is more a matter of alignment than a questionable identity. Everyone is already a child and expression of God, we just often lose touch with that and thus lose our way.

The “rest” or “being still” part of the rest that works is not passive in any boring sense. It’s about doing what it takes to feel our connection to our purposeful yet limitless Life-giving, Loving Source. What we bring to the creative deal is the spark of love in our hearts. As we value it and want to create from love, we align and open the gates for God. Being still opens us to God so heaven can nurture, fan and direct us as fully supported, purposeful flames.

​Being on fire with the love of God is both securing and exciting, peace-bringing and passionate, and it leads to the best fruits I have ever found.

More power to you flame of God.

Blessings,
Scott

(P.S. Anita took the above picture as she was meditating by candlelight. Thanks for such an inspiring picture Hon!).

I don’t know if you made formal resolutions this New Year’s and don’t know how important those are. Yet it was important that I resolved years ago that I wanted my life to be a love story. The journey starts more with faith and resolve than ability. It begins by taking the risk of really opening to the music of Divine Love as a way of life. Here’s an excerpt from the main book about how the rest that works can help us live that out from conception to reality: 

“GOD WANTS YOUR LIFE to be a love story. That's great news, but we tend to misunderstand what it means. We tend to think it's about finding the perfect person, stage, music, career, cash flow or something like that. Those are vital parts of any person's story but not the central storyline. The movement of spirit coming from your heart writes your storyline. Since your heart stems from God, it wants to stay centered and rooted in the Creative Spirit Behind and Within All of Life. Your soul yearns to be in a state of love with God so it can reach out sincerely, lovingly and creatively with its Creator. Jesus did that amazingly well. That is a big part of why I follow him. I want my story to align with the love in his.
Particular people, other living beings and places are part of God's plan for us. They are not merely role-players or stage props. People are meant to be cherished, living beings treasured, and things honored. That's the bottom line for evaluating our lives— the creative love leading us. We were created out of a Love that is always looking to weave and expand loving connections. God never expected us to be able to do that alone.”[1]

When I open myself to Heavenly Help through the rest that works, it’s there. Feeling for it is a practice and it’s often messy but it works. The process gets me back into feeling love so I can work, play and create out of love. That always feels better.

More power to you in living your storyline from your heart. Thanks for journeying together.

Blessings,
Scott


[1] Daniels, Scott (2015-06-29). The Rest that Works: Living a Life of Loving Mindfulness (pp. 27-28). RTW Press: An Imprint of Rider Green Book Publishers. Kindle Edition.

First, I have a humbling confession: I grew up and lived in Boulder, CO for 28 years. I saw the peak of Green Mountain daily. I wanted to go to the top, but at an early age I heard that it was a hard, day-long hike. I thought of doing it someday but never did. End of story until a month ago.

We were in Boulder last Thanksgiving.  Our son Ben wanted to hike to the top of one of the nearby peaks. I said, “Sure if you can find a safe way we can do one.” Using his phone, he found one within an hour. Ben, Bri and I went that afternoon. It was a way to the top of Green Mountain from the back side. It was about a 30-minute hike to summit. The entire process took about 3 hours. The trail’s clearly an old one.

Ben has an adventurous spirit. It leads him to ask questions and see what can be done. He isn’t quick to stop until he finds an option he likes. When it came to Green Mountain, I stopped way too soon for years. I assumed and reasoned from the information I had and kept myself from something I wanted.
​
A similar pattern can easily happen in our relationship with God—the Creative Being Behind and Within all of Life (including us).  It takes a creative, adventurous spirit to truly allow for God’s Creative, Adventurous Spirit. I am discovering that as I sincerely open and reach out to God, Heaven finds a way to reach out to me. Dreams, intuitions, signs and opportunities reveal paths—sometimes from angles I never even imagined let alone considered. All it really takes is faith and a sense of adventure. More power to you in cultivating both in 2016. I hope that the rest that works helps.

Thanks for journeying together.

Blessings,
Scott