Spiritual Practice

The Devil at Your Door

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / Leave a comment

The Devil at Your Door

The Irish are correct in their habit of holding good news loosely and for being always alert to the shoe that’s sure to drop. That shoe always drops, and good news is often followed by bad.  It seems to be the law of the universe.  This law has even been given a name – an Irish name at that: Murphy’s Law.

This universal law is also rooted in an often-forgotten spiritual reality.

When we are actively pursuing our spiritual growth and development, there will always be a “devil” knocking on our door.  There is truth in the religious saying that “a quiet mind is the devil’s playground,” but not in the way that the religious warn, and definitely not in the way they often prohibit spiritual practices for “fear of the devil.”  The devil who is knocking at our door is none other than ourselves – our ego attachments, false perceptions, unhealed wounds, non-loving conditioning, habitual behaviors, fears, and our attachment to the status quo.

Spiritual growth leads to change. The “devil” hates change.

Instead, the “devil” wants us to stay where we are. “He” wants us to remain small and imprisoned by our habits, our attachment to approval, our wounds, and our victimhood. The devil wants us to stay chained to the bars of the cell in which we are living that has been created by our past.

Our Soul, on the other hand, wants us to be FREE.

The Soul drives us to pursue opportunities for healing and growth. The Soul leads us toward the resources and tools we need to transform the pain of our past and to break free of it so we can know our original nature of LOVE and live out of that LOVE. The Soul guides us to those who will help us in this healing and drops gifts into our laps that will assist us along the way.

Every time we say YES to our Soul, the “devil” comes knocking at our door.

The devil shows up with all the weapons of our past wounding. In his arsenal are all the words, experiences, and thoughts that are sure to trigger our past pain and cast us into the hell of confusion, doubt, fear, depression, anxiety, panic, and self-loathing. Self-doubt is the devil’s best work. And yet, there is a gift in this.  The devil doesn’t come to cause harm, he comes for the purpose of asking us,

“Are you really sure you want to take this step toward your liberation?”

He then continues with reminders:  “Aren’t you really comfortable where you are? Isn’t the known far better than taking the risk toward something you don’t yet know? Aren’t you getting attention and other benefits from staying small?  What about the relationships that might have to end because they are solely dependent on you obeying the rules, keeping the peace, and maintaining the status quo? Won’t you miss that familiar pain and self-loathing? Why would you give all that up for the small chance that things could be better?  ….  And so on….

I have found that many, if not most, give into the devil’s pleadings. They forsake the opportunity for spiritual growth because a) they’re afraid, b) because they don’t have the tools or resources to recognize the true designs of the devil and then do something about it.  Freedom from the devil is possible – but only when we have the proper tools to meet him where he is at.

The devil is at home in our fears and unhealed wounds.

When we do the deep inner work of healing and transforming these wounds, the devil no longer has a place to live within us so he moves on in search of others he might torment.

What tools do you have for when the devil comes knocking on your door?

Authentic Freedom is a protocol and practice developed by Lauri Ann Lumby which supports you in identifying and then healing the fears that have kept you imprisoned by your past wounding and cultural conditioning.  

Through recorded lessons, reading, discussion, mindfulness and creativity practices, you will be given the tools to identify, heal and transform the fears that:

  • There is not enough.
  • You are insignificant and have nothing of value to offer the world.
  • You cannot live as our most authentic selves.
  • You are not loved (or that love has to be earned or can be taken away).
  • You  are not free to express our truth.
  • You do not know the truth.
  • You are alone.

At the end of this course, you will have the tools to support you in the continued liberation from your fears and the conditioning that has placed them there.

Learn more and register HERE

Authentic Freedom, by Lauri Ann Lumby, transcends centuries of dogma to reveal the powerful and life-changing message at the heart of Jesus’ teachings and the universal truths at the core of every religion. The book’s unique approach offers an opportunity for the reader to heal the separation they feel within themselves, with God and with each other, ultimately revealing the truth of Oneness. Built upon the compelling integration of Eastern Energy Medicine and the 2000-year-old tradition of Christian, contemplative spiritual practices, Authentic Freedom revels a Dynamic and unifying path of spiritual transformation that speaks to people of all traditions and beliefs.

Buy it on Amazon

Is the Bible Still Relevant?

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 1 Comment

YES, but not in the way many religious institutions would have us believe.  While some (many) have used the Bible to manipulate the masses and to put forth their own hidden (or sometimes not so hidden) agendas, this is not how scripture proves relevant to us today.  I should probably qualify that statement….if our desire is for separation, then using the Bible to put forth dogma, justify separative actions, or to sell the story of a God who wants you to be wealthy, then that is how one will use the Bible.  If, however, our desire is for unity and for humanity to come together in harmony with one another, then we are required to approach scripture in a different way. 

While the Bible is the inspired word of God (Truth, Love, The Divine, by whatever name you call the Source and Revelation of all that is), so too is every example of the written word.

  As we become increasingly aware of the wisdom traditions and sacred writings of other cultures, we discover an abundantly flowing wellspring of wisdom.  As the Western world grows increasingly disenchanted with institutional Christianity and discovers the compassionate teachings of our friends in the East or from the Native people who were here before the European invasion, the temptation is to exchange the traditions in which we were raised for these “new age ideas.”  The problem is that there is nothing “new” about New Age, neither is there something unique in Buddhism, Hinduism, Zen, Paganism, or Native traditions that we cannot find in our own traditions.

This is where the rich tradition of Christian contemplative practices proves helpful.  (Note:  there is also nothing unique to the tradition of Christian contemplative practices. Expressions of all the practices we call “Christian” can be found in the Jewish faith out of which Christianity emerged, and also within the spiritual practices of the cultures in which Judaism was immersed.)

With these practices, we can approach scripture through the lens of inquiry and as a tool through which we can discover and discern our own truth.  In this way, scripture acts like a mirror, reflecting the guidance, insights, learning, comfort and healing we need in the present moment. 

Whether we think of God as the Divine Source of all that is, or as a reflection of our highest self, when applying contemplative practices to scripture, “God” is providing us with what we need.  It is through these contemplative practices that we come to know the God of our own understanding while at the same time coming to know ourselves.  In this way, scripture can be our teacher, our source of guidance and direction, our healer, our counselor, and our comforter.  St. Paul says it well in this epistle:

Beloved:
Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed,
because you know from whom you learned it,
and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

2 Tim 3:14-16

The above is an excerpt from my latest book, Choosing Love – Lessons and Practices for Personal and Global Transformation.

Choosing Love is a collection of fifty-two spiritual lessons and practices for personal and global transformation. These lessons and practices invite you to shake off the cloak of cultural conditioning and discover the freedom of the LOVE hidden within. Here there is no God to appease, no outside perceived authority whose approval needs to be earned, and nothing that can keep you from being and living as your most authentic self. LOVE is who you are. Choose that LOVE.

Buy it HERE

Book Release: Choosing Love

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / Leave a comment

I am super excited to announce that my latest book, Choosing Love – Lessons and Practices for Personal and Global Transformation is now available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle editions.

Visit my Amazon store HERE

Choosing Love is a collection of fifty-two spiritual lessons and practices for personal and global transformation. These lessons and practices invite you to shake off the cloak of cultural conditioning and discover the freedom of the LOVE hidden within. Here there is no God to appease, no outside perceived authority whose approval needs to be earned, and nothing that can keep you from being and living as your most authentic self. LOVE is who you are. Choose that LOVE.

Getting Out of the Way

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / Leave a comment

I have recently become aware of an interesting phenomenon.  Those with whom I am close and who I consider my spiritual family are finding themselves sequestering.  Either by choice, circumstance, or because it is being forced upon them by the universe,  they are finding themselves with a nearly or completely clear calendar from now through the end of the year.  I too am finding myself in this place.

For a long while, I’ve been hearing the universal call to let go, clear our plates, eliminate the unnecessary, discard that which is no longer life giving to clear the way for something new to take its place.  Recently I read another reminder to deepen/accelerate that clearing.  In my own life, I have literally nothing more to clear.  But then the Universe decided to explain to me the full extent of this clearing.  With nothing material remaining to clear, all that remained was TIME. 


Time….time…time….see what’s become of me……

Since I refused to hear this message on my own, the Universe did what the Universe does – it forced it upon me.  Struck down by the events of our world (read more about being an empath below), I found myself FLATTENED.  First I writhed in frustration.  Then I convulsed in pain. Finally I surrendered.  I cancelled my appointments. I took time to rest (I’m still resting).  And then when I looked at my calendar…..I GOT IT.  It is time to:

GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Sometimes after we have done everything we can do to be a source of Love and Support in our world through our own unique gifts, and the world continues to writhe in pain, we need to simply get out of the way and let the Universe take over.  Remember – WE ARE NOT IN CHARGE. As we allow ourselves to step aside, the Universe steps in and does what it needs to do – in this case, to (hopefully) hasten the dying while creating a place for our gifts to once again be of use.  In the meantime, we wait, we care for ourselves and our loved ones, we rest, we breathe, we pray.  And maybe, just maybe, we find that we finally have time and space to dance! 

Have a Blessed Holiday Weekend!


The Language of My Soul

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 3 Comments

My entire life I have been a contemplative.  I just never had a word for it until Sr. Marie Schwann, one of the instructors in my ministry training, introduced us to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and other forms of Christian Contemplative Prayer.  The purest gift of Sr. Marie’s guidance was her universal approach.  Contemplation was not just for Catholics. In fact, contemplation and meditation are formal practices present within every spiritual tradition and religious belief or practice have absolutely nothing to do with one’s ability to be contemplative.  For many, contemplation is simply the language of their Soul.

I speak of contemplation as a language as it is through stillness and deep observation that I communicate with the world around me.  It is through stillness and observation that I hear the deepest whisperings of my Soul.  It is through contemplation that I have received guidance and answers to the questions of my heart. Contemplation is the first step of discernment. The deep observation (hearing and seeing) of contemplation allows me to test the actions and behaviors of myself and others to determine if we/they are on the path of our highest good – or not.  Contemplation has provided shelter in the midst of the storms of life along with the healing and comfort needed when life seems to have gone awry. In contemplation, I have found a direct line to Truth (what some might call God) and it is the compass which faithfully guides me home to my truest and most authentic self.

I remember as a little girl attending mass with my family.  It was here that I have my first memories of contemplation.  I cared nothing for the mass – its rituals, the words being said, the sermon being spoke.  Instead, all I cared about was tuning all that out so I could “be with God.”  Mass was the time I was given full permission to turn inward in prayer and commune in peace with that which I was taught to call “God.”  It was here I was the most happy and it was here I discovered the true language of my Soul – a language that has absolutely nothing to do with theology, religion or belief.  Contemplative is simply who I am and who I am called to be.

What is the language of your Soul?