Spiritual Living Podcast Archive

If we don't love it, we won't do it. Do perfectly all that you can do now. The doing to perfection of one thing invariable provides us with the equipment for doing the next larger thing, because it is a principle inherent in Nature that life continually advances. Every person who does one thing perfectly is instantly presented with an opportunity to begin doing the next larger thing. Doing big things begins with asking for them properly. So we need to ask the right question. It's not "What do we want?", it's "What excites us?" "What brings us to life?"

Using bubble-making technology as a metaphor, Rev. Patrick discusses the seeking and capturing of "a bigger idea" as the extension of progress, the moving forward of growth. From Ideas of Power: The Holmes Papers, we learn: Every thought is a prayer. And that is good. We centre our thinking. We learn to accept. Remember that there is a power greater than we are which reacts. A principle that responds. Let us grasp Its utmost simplicity: We are thinking centres in a universal mind that receives the impress of our mind and acts upon it. Every thought is a prayer. We can stop, we can change, we can alter, we can move it gradually, sequentially, and inevitably to a new experience. In other words, "That thought's not working for me. I need a bigger idea."

Soul is our connection with Spirit, with God. Few people have actually experienced their souls because they assume that the task would be difficult, arduous, and just more work to add to their daily lives. But experiencing our soul is the easiest thing we can do. "Ask and you shall receive. Knock and the door will be open." The starting point, says Ernest Holmes, is a love that cannot hurt, and a faith that will not be denied. The force of conditioning pulls us toward a life of effort and struggle; the force of soul pulls us toward a life that is effortless. Most of society accepts that life is difficult, so the first force has many allies behind it, making it seem overwhelmingly strong. In contrast, the soul's force is so incredibly subtle and intimately experienced within us. The soul is us. It is who we are. The power of transformation exists, and it operates from the centre of our own being. It is an infinite goodness that wants to be expressed. And it can only be expressed through us.

Let us realize that we are on a spiritual journey to higher consciousness, and embrace it. Expand our awareness through contemplation, meditation, and other means. Ask for guidance, simply and sincerely, and wait for it to appear. And finally, trust our finest instincts. Great relief comes when the soul becomes the practice of life.

The surest way to escape the clutches of time is to keep evolving. Awareness can change any energy pattern at will. If we show up awake and aware, and we're in the present moment---if we're in the Being, if we're in co-creation---there is a Divine Intelligence that is in and through and as all of life. And once we develop the vocabulary and the openness to that guidance, then what wants to happen has a better chance; it is not random. This process occurs to remind us over and over again, until we finally pay attention. Let us work toward the enlargement of our consciousness: "Each day, I allow my consciousness to range in the field of greater possibilities." What wants to happen here? Expectancy always speeds progress, so live in the expectancy!

Like the moon, come out from the clouds and shine. On this Mother's Day, Rev. Patrick ruminates on the unreality of birth and death. Life never ends. Form ends, but life is eternal. Life is a continuum, and form changes. When we think of death, we think of suddenly becoming no one. In the same way, we think of birth as our beginning. From nothing, we suddenly become something, and from no one we suddenly become someone. From these notions, there's always fear within us. The Buddhists encourage us to look deeply into the object of our fear: The fear of dying, the fear of not being. It is this deep examination which reveals to us our true nature as eternal beings, not separate from creation but eternally one with it.

You won't see it if you hate it. Let it come to you. Nature cannot be forced, but only loved into visibility. -- Irene Manton It is not enough to recognize the larger order---we must love it. Sincerity, curiosity, and gratitude are the strong, compelling tools of our heart. Our journey is one of allowing and loving.

As Ernest Holmes said, "We are Christian and more." On this Easter Sunday, Rev. Patrick celebrates the road map that Jesus left. Through the Easter story of Barabbas, we are posed the following questions: Do we choose the world of effect, or do we choose the divine? Do we accept our own divinity? For us, Easter means that we step into our Christ consciousness and we live from that.

From the book Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul by Deepak Chopra, we learn that the body is the place where the invisible and the visible show up. The key to transformation is to create the change we want to see in ourselves. "There is no reason to deprive our body of love, beauty, creativity, and inspiration. We are intended to experience ecstasy just as much as any saint. And when we do, our cells rejoice in it." Effective, lasting change is only made from a state of joy and relaxation.

In today's talk, Rev. Kathryn Cardinal shares spiritual lessons learned from caring for Kobe the dog: spiritual preparation, spiritual practice, unconditional love, non-verbal communication, showing love through focussed time and attention, being happy, working through our resistance, knowing that everything happens for a reason, being present, asking for help, and being open to receive that help.

Continuing his discussion of the modern-day business parable The Go-Giver, Rev. Patrick goes over the Five Laws of the Go-Giver: The Law of Value: Our true worth is determined by how much more we give in value than we take in payment. The Law of Compensation: Our income is determined by how many people we serve and by how well we serve them. The Law of Influence: Our influence is determined by how abundantly we place other people's interests first. The Law of Authenticity: The most valuable gift we have to offer to anyone is ourselves. The Law of Receptivity: The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.

In our meditation practice, the person we meet when we go inside ourselves isn't the flimsy construct we're used to. Instead, we meet openness, we meet silence, we meet calm, we meet stability, we meet curiosity, we meet love, and we meet the impulse to grow and expand. This new sense of Self doesn't need to be constructed. It has existed from the beginning and it will always exist. Having met the new us, it becomes easier and easier to throw away bits and pieces of the old one, pieces that no longer serve us. The disappointments and failures in our lives are not who-we-are. Those are the things that have helped shape us. Yet we yearn to be real, and that yearning is enough. The person that we seek is the same Person that is seeking us.

After a quick report from the teens on Winter Camp, Rev. Patrick delves into three lessons from this month's book, The Go-Giver---lessons on how to be an enlightened, prosperous business person. We must remember that we are always planting seeds. Life/Spirit/God does not respond to need. It responds to what we deserve based on the seeds we plant (this is not the usual way that the word "deserve" is used). We cannot expect to reap before we have sown, nor make a harvest that is different from the seeds we have planted, i.e. plant corn and then hope for wheat. We are happiest when we work in alignment with our hard-wiring, which is simply to give, to take care of each other.

In the wake of tragedies such as the earthquake in Japan, it is important to ground ourselves and not allow ourselves to spin out in circumstances. We must maintain the high watch and the spark of spirit. All effective prayer is correcting what we see and hear by what we know. This month's book, The Go-Giver, speaks about value and giving. We have to prime the pump---give some water to get more---and always be generous, with a passion for what we do or give, not being concerned with what we are getting back. The biblical Parable of the Talents also teaches us boldness and growing in consciousness.

In this week's talk, Rev. Patrick's shares the story of his journey now and when he joined the organization. In our movement, we teach the perennial truth: That consciousness precedes experience. That we control our response to all that we experience. As individuals, we are the light of the world. Let us live knowing that whatever happens to us is for us. And it never diminishes us.

Rev. Connie Nissen relates her experiences in chaplaincy training. When she goes to the hospital to comfort or simply talk to someone, it is important for her to be empty yet full---empty of preconceptions, and full of Spirit. Each and every moment, in our experiences and interactions with others, we can be a presence for someone who needs encouraging. "...Although I am there for them, it's really about me. It's really about who I am when I show up. It's about who I am when I'm with you. It's about who I am and who you are when we're together, knowing that something wonderful is truly going to be co-created out of that coming together..."

This week, Rev. Patrick speaks about the power of symbols and the wisdom of parables. We can paint a picture with words, in a parable or story, that we can't with the naked truth and facts. Parables teach us that we have to let go of things that were taught to us---beliefs that hold us back---that somehow seem precious to us. We have to "sell it all" to buy the pearl of great price---spiritual freedom.

We bear one another's burdens whenever we undertake to show the truth of one another. This calls for great clarity and strength of thought. We must demonstrate our understanding of who we are and whose we are. We must bring our clarity. To see the health. To see the healing. It takes the kind of consciousness that is so identified with universals that it is unconcerned with particulars. There is nothing but the Divine expressing in and through and as us. This is our knowing. This is our clarity. This is our certainty. The Universe is waiting for us to express who we truly are. And if we understand that everything that is going on is designed for that to happen, then we realize that everything is for us.

No inner progress is ever wasted. It lasts forever. Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening (March 9 entry) tells of how a monkey can be trapped by putting rice in a small opening in a coconut---it can get its hand in but when it grips the rice inside, it can't get its fist out. What are we gripping onto? Could our hold on something be our demise? The parable of the wheat and the tares can give us insight about how to deal with "evil" in our lives. Do we give up at the first sign of trouble, or overreact? It's okay, it's all God. Sort out the tares later. Put them on the fire of Consciousness. Work on one consciousness at a time---your own.

We are always invited to return to the greatest power, the incredible connectedness that we all share. The parable of the sower can be used to help us see what our mindset is. Are we going along with mainstream society? Are we lacking commitment in some area? Are we preoccupied? Or are we in touch with inspiration, the innate Kingdom of God?

Guest speaker Rev. Dr. James Golden talks about what it means to be a human being. Through the story of the Monk and the Baby, we learn to greet each moment with the awareness of "Ah, so this is my challenge." Who do we really want to be in this life? The thoughts and the words that we allow to come out of us really determine who we choose to be. We are what we think and do. And in living this life, if we are not careful, we can lie to ourselves: The lie that we are unfortunate, the lie that we are not good enough, the lie that we cannot have integrity with ourselves. But through thought, we can instead practice the truth of who we really are: We are cared for in every moment. We are good enough. We are blessed beings. Surely, a human being is a good thing.

This week, Rev. Patrick speaks about courage, compassion, and connection. In his talk, he draws largely from the work of Dr. Brené Brown, a professor at the University of Houston in Social Work, who has extensively studied vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame. In her research, she found that people universally experience heartbreak, exclusion, and disconnection. And these are caused by an underlying feeling of shame and fear---a fear of disconnection, of not being good enough, of not being able to deserve connection. Excruciating vulnerability underpins this idea of "not good enough". Yet, in order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be truly seen. According to Brené, we can become whole-hearted people---people who show up understanding that we are deserving of love and belonging. The number one quality is courage: having the courage to tell our story with our whole heart. Number two is compassion: being kind to ourselves in order to be kind to others. Number three is connection: letting go of who we thought we were so that we can be who we are. Letting our authenticity shine through to others. This is whole-hearted living. Vulnerability. When we live this way, things show up that feel bad to us---grief, shame, fear, and disappointment. But it is also the birthplace of joy, creativity, belonging, and love. We have to have the full experience of the former to have the full experience of the latter. We're loved and we belong just because we are.

Rev. Pat Brideaux shares a perspective on life as a game, the game of Hide and Seek. Taking from Robert Scheinfeld's book Busting Loose from the Money Game, she describes how we seek things that seem hidden; in our infinite state, we "hid" certain aspects of ourselves, and now we spend our lives searching for them. The joy is in the searching and the finding. We are not searching in vain---whatever we are looking for is there, simply hiding. The book Manifesting Change by Mike Dooley reminds us that our feelings are our guidance system. Feeling bad does not mean anything has gone wrong---it means that our guidance system is working, telling us to make a U-turn, to find a better path.

Rev. Tammie Banting starts today's talk by telling the story of how Rev. Patrick moved from California to Edmonton to become a minister at the Centre, and how he and his family recently became Canadian citizens. Rev. Patrick introduces The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len teaches that we operate from either memory or inspiration. We are born in a perfect state of grace---but we often live our lives from memories---and we inevitably return to Source. We can choose to live by inspiration, looking for it in every moment, tapping into the Infinite Mind. God's currency is ideas, and when we're living by inspiration, we are filled with ideas and the ability to take action on them. Many things are inevitable. Our journey back to God is inevitable. What else is inevitable in our lives, based on how we spend our time and energy? How can we create a daily practice to use in 2011 to make sure that wonderful things are inevitable in our lives?

Rev. Patrick leads us in a mudra (a chant with hand motions) of the Ho'oponopono: "I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you." He then leads a prayer and a ceremony to clear out an old idea by setting it on fire using flash paper. The white stone ceremony follows, which helps us give ourselves a clean slate and a new name. Note: To see the hand motions of the mudra, refer to this YouTube video.

This week's talk focuses on Laura Berman Fortgang's book The Little Book on Meaning. "To attempt a meaningful life is to embrace that which can only be measured within ourselves." We are attached to our labels. But we are not our labels. We are the Infinite, individually expressed! "We are not the pain. We are not the tragedy. We are the soul, and the soul is eternal." Let us have practices in our lives that make us feel better. Let us keep our conversations in heaven. Let us find the perfect. Surrender. Find the perfect. See what arises.

In this week's talk, Rev. Patrick compares the practice of affirmative prayer with Dr. Ihalekala Hew Len's practice of cleaning. It is a practice of taking 100% responsibility in all things and in all situations by saying, "I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you." The "I love you" is the recognition of the Oneness of Life, common to all, which we recognize as the first step of an affirmative prayer.

Sometimes we are tempted to just wait for inspiration before taking any action. If we intend to meditate every day but are having a hard time actually doing it---perhaps waiting for inspiration---it can help to act from a place of devotion instead of dedication. Think of beauty instead of intellect. Choose to be an artist instead of a fundamentalist. Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, says "the more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the more resistance we will feel towards pursuing it." So what are we really afraid of? Pursue it, not like an amateur waiting for the fear to be gone before taking any step, but like a professional, knowing that there will always be fear, but doing it anyway.

The process of spiritual growth is not about shifting or changing anything---but of revealing. The perfection that we are, collectively and individually, already exists. Our opportunity for life is that each day is not about perfection, but simply about progress. Simply accepting that life is difficult means that we can transcend the influence of this truth over us. Life is no longer difficult---it's just life.

Rev. Patrick begins with the story of Phineas Quimby, a healer and philosopher who formulated the beginnings of the New Thought movement. Quimby stated that "Mind is matter in solution. Matter is mind in form." He was the first to teach the Christ Principle and the Science of Christ. Quimby reasoned that since dis-ease is a belief or an opinion, it can be changed through changing the belief or the opinion. Next, Rev. Patrick focuses on the present-day Bruce Lipton, a developmental biologist who teaches about the biology of belief. Lipton used to think that we were born with a certain set of genes, and that was fixed. But he found that what influences a cell is perception and environment. In humans, perception is our belief. So our thinking creates seeds of possibility to change our perception by changing our belief. This is exactly what Quimby was teaching in the 1800s.

We either live life by inspiration, or by default. Rev. Patrick examines how we live our life of genius. We begin with the affirmation: "I commit to living in my zone of genius, now and forever." We're born with the capacity---beyond the rational mind---to imagine, to have intuition, to have memory, to have will, and to have the power of perception. We need to start to relate to that part of us that is eternal, infinite. We must pay attention to what we're paying attention to. This is the commitment to living in the zone of genius. Rev. Patrick closes with the ultimate success mantra: I expand in abundance, success, and love every day, as I inspire those around me to do the same.

The world needs awake people. Inspired by the chapter "Building a New Home in Your Zone of Genius" in the book The Big Leap, Rev. Patrick guides us to discover and create our zone of genius. We begin to find our genius by asking the following questions: What do we love to do most? What work do we do that doesn't seem like work? In our work, what produces the highest ratio of abundance and satisfaction to the amount of time spent? And finally, what is our unique ability? In the development of our genius, we can use these steps as taught by Emma Curtis Hopkins: Think it through. ("What is our genius?") Write it down. Use our word. (Working with the phrase: "I commit to living in my zone of genius, now and forever.") Take the action.

We belong. Rev. Patrick reminds us of our teaching that There is one Life, Spirit's Life, my Life, right here, right now. It is coming back, it is healing that separation. If we understand who we are and whose we are, we come home. Our vow is to be honourable and true to the best persons we can be, to ourselves, first and foremost. The great mistake is to act this drama---this life---as if we were alone. When we feel like we don't belong, we feel isolated because we're separated. But as Ernest Holmes showed us, we can know: There's one Life, and that's my Life! We are not alone. We belong.

The Thanksgiving message, of course, is about gratitude! Rev. Patrick shares seven characteristics of evolved people, including "evolved people give thanks for what most people take for granted." Also "evolved people give without agenda," and "evolved people understand the value of downtime." We can practice letting rather than getting... stepping into the ocean of life. Rev. Patrick quotes a David Whyte poem "Four Horses."

Rev. Patrick re-introduces The Big Leap, a book we had studied back in January. Its major theme is the moving out of our level of incompetence to our level of competence to our level of excellence and into our level of genius. Will: An attitude of "must" and "should". "White-knuckling" the situation. Willing: Giving it a try. Seeing what happens. Willingness: The readiness, the enthusiasm, the keenness, the promptness, the haste, the swiftness, the dispatch, the speed. Everything starts with willingness. Are we willing to feel good in our lives all the time? The only way to move out of our level of excellence and into our level of genius is through a big leap of consciousness. If we simply focus for a moment, we can always find a place in us that feels good right now. And allowing that feeling to exist and to expand in us, is the process that starts the big shift in our consciousness. Ask yourself this week, "Am I willing to feel good in my life all the time?"

Since the best talks are lived, not preached, Rev. Catherine McLeod shares stories from her life, and the ways that life is stretching her to grow. She is currently learning ways to build a bigger boat: Be mindful---This is compassion and awareness. Awareness of our feelings and our responses to things. Stay open---Open to messages that don't fit with our current model of the world. Treat everything and everyone as a teacher.

Before we wake up to our lives and begin asking the important questions, we're in a fog, and sometimes we're even attached to the fog. To seek a new clarity, Rev. Patrick discusses attachment and how it can become our god. What are we nailed to? What are we attached to? The prayer work we do is transformative. It changes and shifts lives. So we become as bright as possible and as capable as possible. This is the art of becoming. A journey that never ends. We are all connected. In our daily lives, are we communicating from our brilliance? For God is interested in our capacity to love. We are each other.

To learn how to think is to learn how to live. -- Ernest Holmes In the movie Parenthood, one of the characters states, "Life is either a merry-go-round or a roller coaster." In the former case, it's like we're doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. But the only way that our conditions shift and change with any degree of sustainability is through a shift in consciousness. When we bring ourselves back, over and over again, to the immediate present, to do so, we must become present with what we are feeling and thinking. We must honour what we are thinking and how we are feeling. Let us make the declaration: "Here am I". Here am I, even in the spinning, in the frustration of things breaking down. Through meditation, we find a place to stand in the Oneness, to bring us back to that Oneness. We then become a gift to everyone when we are fully present in the moment.

In today's talk, Rev. Patrick gives an explanation of our spiritual community and highlights what we teach and practice. He touches on the six pillars of our teaching: Meditation, Visioning, Celebration, Circulation (money as a spiritual idea), Education, and Service. What is entirely in our hands is the quality of our inner dedication to becoming conscious. So we ask ourselves, have we learned anything new lately? When was the last time we did anything new? This is evidence of the expansion of consciousness. As a community, we seek a direct connection with the Divine for personal and global transformation.

Rev. Patrick shares some wisdom from 29 Questions for the Ordinary Life by Norman Bouchard: "When you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny." Naming your good is part of walking with purpose. Bouchard also says, "When you're invested in answers, you always meet a dead end." We work on ourselves first, but when someone is afraid, we can come alongside and ask why. We can live our best life and help others to do the same. Find your joy and let it lead you to your good!

What would we do today if we were brave? Bravery is not what we think. E.E. Cummings said simply, "It takes courage to grow up and become who we really are." The brave choice is to be aware, moment by moment, of the thoughts that limit us and then going ahead and doing whatever scares us anyway. The great poet Keats said, "Of this I am certain: the holiness of the heart's affection and the truth of the imagination." When we listen to our hearts and our imagination, we are in the flow---our imagination will lead us to the truth. How can some of the poorest people living on the planet be so happy? Abundance is being satisfied with what we have today. Rev. Patrick explains the six steps that follow the first, most important step to abundant living---to name our good.

Where our mind goes, our whole life will follow. Our minds can be so easily triggered that, if we don't pay attention, our thoughts can run away from us and we forget what we had originally intended to manifest. Only you can change your mind, to become more skillful in how you use your mind. The simple, daily things make the most difference.

We are all unique; we all have our own path and our own questions. One very important question is, "What is my Good?" What makes me smile? What makes me thrive? Is this Good guiding me toward my genius? David Whyte said, "The universe is holding its breath, waiting for us to take our rightful place," and that place is to stop struggling and thrive. Incredible things happen when we name our Good and activate the principle of thriving.

Today's talk features guest speaker and musician Ester Nicholson. Dwelling in gratitude and practicing the presence is so important. God is not in the healing business. It is in the "is-ness" business. God does not need to heal what it cannot know, what doesn't exist. What needs healing... what are we afraid of? Nothing. When we return to Reality, what isn't real goes away. But when we are unconscious, we can't tell the difference between the true and the false. All we have to do is practice the presence and when we go a little astray, we'll come back easily. Don't tell God about your problems, tell your problems about God.

We are not who we think we are. Hardly anyone is. Most people's spiritual practice is this: "The more that I can beat myself up, the better I'll be."---This is insanity. So end the search for more and better. Let authenticity---not trying to be good---begin to infuse our actions. We are already whole. There is no test to pass, no race to finish. Recognize that love is there where it appears to be absent.

Rev. Patrick continues his discussion of Geneen Roth's book Women Food and God. In the chapter entitled "Married to Amazement", Geneen concludes that the mind is mad. But once we accept the madness, we can pay attention to what isn't mad. And this is one of the main purposes of meditation. To focus upon what isn't mad. Why meditate? Our incessantly thinking mind is useful when we need to conceptualize, plan, and theorize. But, when we depend on our mind to guide our inner lives, we're lost. So the practice of meditation gradually brings our inner guidance closer, so that we can recognize it clearly when we need it the most.

Rev. Patrick returns from a retreat at the Omega Institute in New York spent with Elizabeth Lesser and Thomas Moore. While there, he explored the two complementary aspects of Soulfulness and Spirituality. Soulfulness is like the experience of having a wonderful meal together. Soulfulness is about heart, about connection. Spirituality is anyone's longing to understand life, understand themselves, and understand the mystery beyond this life. Spirituality is truly a mystery. We come to alignment with ourselves through the practice of Inquiry---of being present in this moment, of not trying to figure things out. Our lives are either an expression of our spiritual magnificence or of our unhealed past. Any unmet feeling restricts our ability to know ourselves. Where do we carry that feeling in our bodies? We want to know who we are when we aren't being driven by our past. We want to penetrate the unknown and comprehend the incomprehensible. When we evoke curiosity and openness with a lack of judgement, we align ourselves with beauty, delight, and love. Rev. Patrick ends his talk with the following affirmation: My life is an amazing spiritual adventure. I see good everywhere I look. I am grateful for yesterday, Loving this moment, And celebrating my amazing future.

Rev. Kathryn Cardinal returns from teen camp in California: A week in love, in peace, and in joy (and a little bit of chaos). The theme of the week was "Strip Away and Enter Great", and with any growth experience that we undergo, part of the work is to "integrate" that growth back into our daily lives. What do we need to strip away to enter into the the Greatness that we are? We may find peace around that integration. We are invited to integrate who we are into our life experience.

Birds learn to fly by falling and falling again. And in their falling, they're given wings. -- Rumi All of our longings are inevitable. Re-engage, look, ask the questions, examine the challenges and the opportunities. The things that are going on in our lives right now are a result of our consciousness. And that consciousness is evolved over time, into what we call our lives. As Ernest Holmes said, to live in health, and to live in balance, and to live in harmony is our divine heritage. We find an emancipation of the mind from every form of bondage through a new concept of God, which causes the heart to beat with joy and gladness. The healing process is simply the becoming conscious of this eternal truth. Sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness. Are we living from loveliness? The value of a human spirit has never been measurable by a number on a scale. We are unrepeatable beings of light, space, and water. We practice radical self-care.

Rev. Patrick weaves an inspirational Father's Day message from the writings of Geneen Roth, Dr. Ernest Holmes, and A. H. Almaas. The biblical story of the prodigal son reminds us that we are always welcome to return to our divine nature, which dwells in us, and all is forgiven. The Ultimate Father won't hear anything about the "bad" things we have done, and only welcomes us back home. In Women Food and God, we learn that our obsessions can become like a religion; we won't be worthy or have any value as a person unless/until we do what we obsess about. When we learn to accept and respect ourselves, see our beautiful soul within, and stop fighting with the way things are, we enter a space of infinite goodness, free-floating joy and bliss.