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Hi there. My name is Kathy A. J.

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Hardy

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and I come from Mission, British Columbia, Canada.

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This is a series

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called Soul Care Conversations.

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This podcast began with host Roy Salmon

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with 4 episodes, and I'm continuing on

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with conversations

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with people that work with me with Soul

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Care, people that have participated

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in the work of Soul Care and stories,

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songs,

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and poetry

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writings from my own life.

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It's been an unexpected journey that I'm able

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to share

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through writing and music

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what's happened over the last couple decades of

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my life.

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But in this

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episode, I want to share a poem with

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you called prayer of aligning with love.

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It's found in the book, love breathes with

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me, the first little published book I did.

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And so I wanna tell you a little

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story about that.

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I was

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raising funds for one of the albums that

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I was doing.

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And so I did a Kickstarter

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and I thought, what can I give in

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response to people

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that are supporting me in my musical endeavor?

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And so I decided to

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collect

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some of the poems from my journals

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from the previous years.

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And one of the

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the poems prayers that

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I had written,

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I had actually etched in my bathroom wall

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with permanent marker

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as a way to

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remind me every day of what to think

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about.

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My friends laughed at me and said, this

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is not so good for the resale value

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of your home

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to write something in permanent marker on your

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bathroom wall.

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But at that moment, I thought, well, what's

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more important? My mental health

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or the resale value of my home.

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So

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I kept it there.

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And

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this prayer, which is,

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I've used in many retreats

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and,

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it it became something

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powerful for me to meditate on every single

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day.

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We go to the bathroom every day, brush

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our teeth every day,

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and so it was staring at me all

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the time,

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and it reminded me, and I think we

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need

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reminders. I need reminders.

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There are so many things that

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one spiritual director, she called it being hooked

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out of ourselves,

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Doreen Kostianuk,

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who you will hear about many times in

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this

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podcast series,

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brought to me many,

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many images and messages

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on how to care for my soul.

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And one of those was to notice when

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I'm being hooked out of myself.

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I speak more about this in

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the,

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the book walk with me,

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but one of the things that

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I began to notice was, oh, I'm spiraling.

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Oh, I'm ruminating.

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Oh, I'm being hooked out of myself.

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And so a prayer like this would

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allow me to return,

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and I think we need practices that help

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us return to a place where we're rooted,

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where we're grounded, where we remember,

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how it is to stand

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in ourselves,

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stand in what is true,

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instead of being looped out into a spiral

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that brings us into a place of reactivity,

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a lot of times self doubt or overcompensating,

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over functioning.

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So this is a prayer called prayer

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of aligning

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with love,

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and here it is.

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May my bones

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shine

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with the radiance of the presence of love.

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May my heart beat

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with the joy of knowing my intrinsic

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value.

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May my mind be filled with thoughts and

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intentions rooted in the Creator's love for me.

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May my longings align with love's longings.

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May my feet be carried

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to where I need to be.

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May my eyes behold beauty.

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May my mouth

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speak truth.

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May my hands be open and receptive

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to all love longs to give.

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May my hands offer blessing to all they

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touch.

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May I move out of love's response

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rather than fear's reaction?

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May I be energized

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by love?

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May I receive

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forgiveness and compassion?

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May I offer forgiveness

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and compassion?

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May I receive grace and mercy?

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May I offer

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grace and mercy?

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May I receive the gaze of love?

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May I become the reflection of the gaze

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of love?

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May I become

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the radiance

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of the presence

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of love?

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So I wanna take a few moments just

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to share

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a bit about

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some of these lines.

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We'll start with the first three lines, may

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my bones

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shine with the radiance

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of the presence of love.

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It's quite remarkable to meet a person

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who is radiant,

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and that's pretty rare these days.

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I noticed that a lot of people have

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a bit of a dull look on their

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face or

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defensive

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reactive,

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but radiance comes from within.

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Radiance is,

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I believe,

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part of our essence of what

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we're meant to be like to radiate

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there's

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light that's within us.

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We

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are created with this incredibly

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beautiful

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soul.

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And when that soul awakens

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to

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to being recognized,

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it it shines like light.

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I remember when I was teaching music,

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and one of the things that

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someone had told me that, you know, that

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you're connecting with a child when their eyes

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begin

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to shine.

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And,

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and so it was something I always looked,

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I've always looked for.

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When are the eyes

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shining?

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Well, often it become they, they begin to

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shine when there's a,

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there's a sense of being recognized,

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being a sense of

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valued,

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known,

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cherished,

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seen,

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validated.

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We're often looking outwardly for those things,

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And when we can know an internal

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place within ourselves, the sanctuary of the heart,

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where we know how valuable our lives are,

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I believe that there

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emerges

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a radiance,

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a sense of home that lives within a

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person that begins to shine from the face.

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And it's so powerful.

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This is something that I so desperately needed

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in my own life

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is to learn

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that sense of belonging,

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belonging to the divine,

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belonging within

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that my life was significant.

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May my bones shine with the radiance

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of the presence of love.

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One could just meditate on this one line

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and allow it to work itself into one's

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being.

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The second line is made my heart beat

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with the joy of knowing my intrinsic value.

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This is similar in that

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the very pulse of my heart

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can know joy

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when I know my value

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from within,

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not looking

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at another

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for recognition,

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but knowing it from a deep, deep place.

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And the third line is may my mind

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be filled with thoughts and intentions rooted in

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the creator's love for me.

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It's interesting as I spend time listening to

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people,

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a lot of people have a sense of

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spirituality

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about them,

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but those that come from a deeply religious

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background often have a distorted view

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of how the divine,

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God, or whatever word you might use,

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might view them, and often it's not very

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loving,

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not very kind.

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And so there's a sense of the

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image of the divine as being

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judgmental, even if there's lip service to a

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loving God,

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there's a sense of judgment.

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And so

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how can we trust

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this

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unseen loving force

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if we're somewhat

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concerned

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and defensive?

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It's incredible to think

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and to ponder the possibility.

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What if,

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what if, and this is a question I'd

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love to leave with you. What if

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the intentions rooted

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in the creator's love

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is good?

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What if there's goodness intended

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for your life?

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And if you just hold that as a

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possibility,

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it could open up something very precious within

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you.

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I believe

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there is goodness

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intended

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for you

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and that your life

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is here for a reason.

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My name is Kathy Hardy.

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I'm on a soul journey.

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I'm a pilgrim

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on this earth just like you.

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I have a lot more questions than answers,

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but I look forward to sharing more

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in the days ahead.

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Thanks for listening.

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I'll close with sharing a portion of a

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song

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from the album I am she, a soul's

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journey home,

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And this song is called my bones will

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shine.

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Thank you, and blessings on your day.

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Me,

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and I will

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walk again.

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Tell me

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once again

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how your

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heart

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will shine.

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To know more about the work of soul

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care,

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spiritual direction, spiritual direction training, retreats,

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music, books,

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please go to kathyajhardy.comor

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soulcare.ca.