Tag: Sevaka retreat

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Just what I needed

Swami Kriyananda performing the Festival of Light

I always find Ananda’s Sunday service to be inspiring, but some weeks it is so deeply inspiring that I feel fully recalibrated by the end.

Today was one of those Sunday services, and it was just what I needed — exactly when I needed it! (Not to mention the lingering impact of the uplifting Sevaka Retreat that took place the day before.)

I’m so grateful to be starting Spiritual Renewal Week with a renewed awareness of — and strengthened commitment to — living my life in service to God.

I especially love the words in this portion of the Festival of Light that we hear every Sunday:

Many times has that light descended,
Drawn to earth by the call of aspiring love.
Your chosen people have always been
Those of every race and nation
Who, with deep love, chose Thee.

(The minister lifts the candle aloft with both hands to symbolize this choice.)
Please pray with me:

O Lord,
With all my heart,
With all my mind,
With all my soul,
And with all my strength
I choose Thy love,
I choose only Thee.

And so I do…again and again and again. 🙏

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A family kind of day

The morning was dedicated to spiritual family, at the annual Ananda Sevaka retreat.

A hybrid of in-person and online, I was deeply inspired by inspirational talks from Jyotish and Devi, as well as the creative energy generated in the Zoom breakout rooms that followed.

Then the afternoon was dedicated to human family, as my brother, his wife, and their daughter — who live in Southern California — arrived (together with my Dad) for their first visit to Ananda Village.

I toured them all around the property, then drove into town to have dinner with them before they headed back to Sacramento, where they’re visiting with other family members.

All in all, it was a fairly exhausting day, so I was happy to spend the evening relaxing and watching a show with Ramesha — my core, every day, all the time, love-of-my-life family. 😊