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Reclaiming Authenticity, June 4, 2021

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Reclaiming Authenticity
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One year anniversary show, the alchemy of authenticity, transforming dimensions of spirituality

Reclaiming Authenticity with Dr James Houck

One year anniversary show, the alchemy of authenticity, transforming dimensions of spirituality

Reclaiming Authenticity

Reclaiming Authenticity with Dr James Houck
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Dr James Houck

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Reclaiming Authenticity: The courage to reclaim that which has always been in you.

No matter who we are, where we were born, and into what family we were placed, ours is a world full of relationships. Indeed, we are social beings who spend our lives making sense of our world by trying to find our place in the world. As social beings, it is often within the context of relationships that we experience tremendous pain and suffering. From overt acts of betrayal and cruelty that someone may have inflicted against us or vice versa, to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, many people bear the scars of physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual wounds. And yet ironically, just as we experience our woundedness in relationships, it is also within the context of healthy relationships that we find our healing and authenticity. The difficulty, then, is often finding the courage to discover that which has always been in you.

For over 25 years, Dr. James Houck has been helping people discover their authentic selves by integrating spirituality into their mental and emotional health. As people are able to integrate these disciplines, they often discover core issues that have been keeping them wounded in relationships.

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and now with over 25 years of experience dr. James house<br>hello hello hello everybody Welcome to the month of June and good to have you here good afternoon wherever you are in the world at this time welcome to reclaiming authenticity finding one's courage to reclaim that which has always and I mean always been in you each and every week these broadcasts spirituality and our mental health that is certainly the focus of these topics and themes that I have been talking about each week and with this integration of a spirituality in our mental health it's also focused on our relationships and I'll say a little bit more about that coming up here but it is within the context of relationships cuz we are indeed relational people we are social beings we are not meant to live on an island We Are Men<br>to live with one another however there are times when being in relationships with other people other parts of humanity and so forth we can experience our deepest physical emotional psychological even spiritual wounds in and through these relationships however as we heal we can certainly discover our greatest healing Adept in our healing greater strength more peace forgiveness and love through healthier relationships and we don't have to look too far when we just say relationships because they just might be within our own families they just might be with our co-workers colleagues and friends and the other beauty of this is that whatever we transform we also transform others by our presence with them by our Gray<br>spy or understanding but first the Forgiveness kindness and compassion begins with how we treat ourselves because certainly whenever we are compassionate with ourselves we then can be compassionate with others and when we are forgiving of ourselves we can certainly be more forgiving of others and when we are able to live in gratitude with ourselves and be simply grateful for everything in our lives we then discover how this opens up our hearts to see me and to live in gratitude with others so all-in-all transformation first and foremost begins with us but then it just expands as it was wonderful ripple effect on the rest of our relationships dr. James hauke and if you would like more information about me or leave me your comments about Today show I appreciate that<br>if you do please visit the website it's www.bpas.com backslash reclaiming authenticity that's www. DDS radio.com reclaiming authenticity and just went to pass on the information that these broadcasts are Now podcast in case you want to go back and listen again or you can go back into the archives and listen to previous shows and just wanted to thank everybody for your support over the past year I guess it has been one year since I have been doing this and again just thank you everybody who has supported me and also wanted to say that now you have the opportunity to continue your support by becoming a monthly subscriber now unlike other shows out there and internet radio land you<br>I do not need a subscription to listen to my talk shows but it is greatly appreciated and I'm going to be putting more information on the website about how that you can support me and the shows and you can just very simple you can just choose any amount that you feel comfortable and giving and then again they provide the subscription link for you so again thank you for this well how was your heart today I hope your heart is well I hope that you are well and I hope that even if you're struggling today perhaps in this hour you'll be able to find rest and comfort and the piece you need<br>well as I said just a few seconds ago welcome to a very special one year anniversary show today and it's going to be focusing on the Alchemy of authenticity transforming dimensions of spirituality now authenticity is wonderful implications but yet being able to reclaim that which is always been an us may seem like a very good daunting task it may just seem to be too overwhelming and like where do we even begin but I am a firm believer that we all come into this world with everything that we need in terms of our gifts our talents are Graces our skills are personalities and so forth all the positive things about us all the very special things that there is to know about us<br>we often go through life and we don't realize that many things can be layered over top of these that it kind of keeps the very best of ourselves from coming out and we often go through life in a place of woundedness or being in relationships with one another from that wounded Place enough to where we just keep making the same mistakes over and over again and we wonder why we cannot heal we wonder why we cannot grow we wonder why we keep making the same stupid mistakes for lack of a better word okay but it is certainly true that we have everything that we need you and I are really gifted wonderfully loved unconditional unconditionally people and once we finally grasp that and<br>maybe not with our heads but definitely with our hearts definitely with our souls and we step into exactly who we are as beloved Souls of God that opens up just a tremendous world for us and certainly enhances our relationships well you've heard me say this before but one of my all-time favorite books is The Alchemist and it's from the author of Pollo Loco hello and if you have ever read The Alchemist you know what I'm talking about it is you know one of the best selling books that are out there a household Dane as it work but if you've never read The Alchemist I highly encourage you to download a copy today or if you're the old school like me by a copy and just take it with you and enjoy the story because there are many many hidden<br>lessons in this little book so you also realize that the main character Santiago the shepherd boy he has this journey that he is on from where he is to the Egyptian pyramids to find what he calls as his personal Legend and ironically his journey has in the end literally brought him back to the place where he left<br>and the main point of the story is that Santiago yes has been on this external Journey to the pyramids but more importantly he's been on an inward Journey because he himself has been transformed along the way and this is a powerful thing I'm not just in the and you know the Alchemists the book of the you call The Alchemist but also many lessons throughout our lives and we might consider ourselves to be on a journey and we're so worried about getting to the end result or forgetting to the Finish or whatever that end might be that we often miss the little lessons the life-changing lessons along the way<br>perhaps we are too busy looking at something else or we we assume that well the lessons are at the end but again we missed the journey we missed the emphasis of that we missed the what are the lessons we need to pay attention to with every step that we take because transformation is ongoing we don't have to wait till we get to the end of something in order to be transformed we can be transformed along the way if we are open to it okay if I send his journey brought him back to a place which he had left initially and you know what he himself was on this inward journey and all in all he was clearly not the same person he was when he left at the beginning and this ties in quite nicely with favorite quote of mine from PSL<br>who says let us not seek cease from exploration and for all our exploring will be for us to arrive at a place where we started and we will know it for the first time<br> what's not cease from exploration and for all of our exploring will be for us to arrive at a place where we started and we'll know it for the very first time and another prominent theme that runs through this book The Alchemist is that for the character Santiago we often realize that when we really want something to happen the whole universe will conspire so that our wish comes true<br> and it is this theme that ties us into today's topic because this is something that I truly believe in that whenever we are paying attention to what has been placed in our heart and we hear the Cry of our soul and we commit to that the entire universe will make it happen if we remain open and teachable to every situation in our lives<br> and when we were able to do this we also discover that we just may have been destined to embrace the Cry of our soul all along<br> well throughout history physical Alchemy was and is concerned with altering and transforming the chemical properties within solid matter such as changing lead into gold now this was not something that we were taught in chemistry class because everybody would be bringing in their LED pencils trying to change him into gold and I don't know what were you were in high school but they wouldn't let us play with fire like that so anyway but this is no ancient Alchemy transforming the chemical properties into something more valuable but there's also a spiritual alchemy that is going on as well in a higher Dimension and it is concerned with freenas and freeing our vast spiritual self which is often hindered you know by the unrefined parts of our<br> you know our fears are limiting personal beliefs or are self-loathing and the spiritual Alchemy is vastly more multifaceted and its ongoing then the physical Alchemy Alchemy it is a continuous purification of our hearts Smith turn up the heat but needs a hopper that contains raw mineral or a metal and as the heat is increased the dross or impurities you know come to the surface they float to the surface only to be skimmed off making the metal which is Left Behind more pure than what it was before<br> and then this process is repeated over and over and again and again until the metal reaches its finest Purity that it can possibly be<br> and if we are paying attention and if we desire this and we listen to The Cry of our salt we too will go through this process of a spiritual Alchemy of our authenticity<br> and how often does it feel like in our lives today that the heat has been turned up you know through past and current events throughout the world there for when when going through this process of a spiritual awakening sooner or later we're going to be confronted with the fact that there seems so much more to ourselves than the reality we are living in and what we have a grown accustomed to and this is why we need to pay attention to those groanings that occur deep deep deep within our hearts and our souls listen to those Christ pay attention to them what do we yearn for what do we take for what has God laid upon our heart what is God started stirring in our souls<br> when we want something<br> the happened the whole universe will conspire so that that wish that desire comes true<br> well as we go through life and depending on our circumstances in life we may come to a place where we start to question what is true for us for example maybe ever since childhood we have a certain way in which we see ourselves or or how we see other people or how we relate to God or how we see the World At Large and when we've gone through an experience that really shakes us up or shatters our assumptions we feel as though nothing makes sense anymore we don't seem to have a sense of our bearings let alone you know which way is up and then this could be a very unnerving state or place we find ourselves in specially if we feel like all of what we have known is just starting to crumble and evaporate and what can we hang onto and we we try to keep things from changing but<br> just not going to happen but it's highs we can become so unsure of not only ourselves but also whether or not if all that we see is all that there is<br> and yet<br> yo when we were able to whether these these storms or or whether the changes in the Transformations that are coming and what's going on in the world and everything else trying to make sense of anything we also may discover that through it all something greater than ourselves is tugging at a result<br> have you ever felt that<br> they call it a stronger nudge from God were more intense dimensional energy or even a hunger that resonates deep within by compelling us to go and search to discover the vastness of who we truly are<br> and as we go on this journey we discover that there are things we need to identify and let go of and transform in order to embrace hire more intense spiritual dimensions<br> or another words Rising above those negative mental emotional physical even spiritual triggers that keep us from experiencing the fullness of unconditional love that what's getting in the way of that what's keeping us tied to an old way of life of former way of life which is just no longer serves us<br> I just phenomena is at the heart of a multi-dimensional understanding of spirituality<br> well if you are a student of religion don't even have to be but if you are you'll know you'll be quite familiar with this lesson because within every religion and we have examples after examples after examples of how people have encountered a kind of spiritual Crossroads you know where they can no longer remain in the place of who they are or where they have been and now they have to find the courage to to follow and two to see if that was truly resonates in the depth of their souls what is this thing that God has started stirring within you what is this think that God has started stirring Within Me<br> it does take courage to follow that<br> but we have in every religion one example after another that people come to that cross road where they have to make a choice they can no longer just remain silent and there's a great great example just a wonderful transformation that occurs I'm sure that many people are familiar with the story of Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus and the book of Acts in the Bible it's a great story now prior to his conversion saw from all outward appearances was a very religious man. He was a Pharisee you just strict adherence to the law and he was devoted to God that doing everything within his power and understanding at that time<br> follow what he believed to be God's purpose for his life<br> and then one day he is traveling to Damascus and he is met with a blinding light and within this light he hears the voice of Christ which literally knocked him on his backside and transforms his world and changes his name from Saul to Paul<br> and then place has this incredible responsibility on him and which his life is no longer fueled by hatred or contempt for others but now it's empowered by the unconditional grace mercy and love of God<br> and in this process and he's blinded for three days until he has led to House of a man who allows him to rest and washes his eyes and and leaves him exactly where he needs to be to begin this higher Dimension this closer walk with God in his life all for the sake of reaching others not using hatred and fear<br> but reaching into people's lives in order to lift them out of their misery and self-loathing or stigmas or contempt for one another<br> even the bug of agita considered to be one of the main holy scriptures for Hinduism the main character himself Arjuna struggles to understand who he really is as he listens to the wisdom of Sri Krishna Arjuna is standing on a battlefield on one side and you know he's just overcome with fear by by what and who he sees on this battlefield I mean he sees his family his that his relations he sees people that you do once the battle begins thousands and thousands will die blood will be shed there will be intense great suffering<br> and Arjuna is overcome with this but Krishna<br> teaches him<br> to look at the war that's being waged inside himself first<br> because this is where the true battles are fought<br> now that the turmoil that exists within each of us who feel the pressure to transform but are afraid to let go of a mindset that keeps us limited in our understanding of what authenticity looks like in the vastness of Who We Are<br> and this is the challenge before all of us letting go of those things those beliefs excetera that no longer service because they have no life in them<br> and as I mentioned this could be self-loathing beliefs this could be you know very subtle fear of failure or even a more subtle fear of success or we might be thinking that there is nothing special to us or thinking that we cannot get past or past and any other belief out there that keeps us tied to the fear of discovering who we truly are in all of these thoughts and beliefs and assumptions especially our assumptions with listening to the head rather than listening to the heart<br> so let us take hold of something better more Life Giving<br> this experience of God has always and will always be meant for the positive Life Changing Life alternating transformation<br> well one of the teachings out there that I still here might not on a regular basis but I hear it every now and then<br> is that the goal at the end of this life is to just simply make it to heaven where then we can experience the fullness of God<br> and they said that sounds great but we can also experience the fullness of God now<br> you know and a passage in the Bible that I'm reminded of time and time again is that Jesus said that's a pure in heart shall see. But what did he mean by this what is this Purity look like and what exactly will we see<br> many people believe that Jesus meant that the pure in heart shall see God let's say one day in heaven but what about today we can we see God in our everyday lives<br> absolutely it's just a matter of looking for God often in the most unlikely places and often through the most unlikely people when we we often make it more complicated than what it really needs to be sometimes well unfortunately down through the centuries there has been a need to control you know Humanity's quest to experience the fullness of God in those unlikely places and you know unlikely people and spiritual discoveries and counters have often been tempted to be kind of squelched or or snubbed out out of fear that they occur outside the bounds of what is deemed as appropriate or Timely<br> Factor there was and always is an emphasis for people to look for God however as long as they look similar similar think similarly and worship God in a similar fashion<br> anybody who's ever felt the transformative power of God is always sooner or later had to contend with transcending those bounds impose by and societal structures whether those structures you know come from the education or religious judicial or whatever<br> because we are one thing we do have to keep in mind though it's it's not the physical structures that need to be transcended if we are to grow and evolve into embracing on your best self<br> it is the prejudices the attitudes the stigmas the assumptions that have galvanized those structures for centuries<br> for me personally I had to take a closer look at just exactly how do I pray what do I pray for<br> and I have to shift my prayers from my head to my heart and especially meditating on my soul connection that I have with God<br> and when I did this after a while I started to see and hear all the layers of luminous and me again not of the malicious way that God brought to my attention you know but instead being shown all the things that needed to be healed<br> all this the psychological emotional spiritual wounds that clouded my sight the sound of seeing and hearing the spirit of God we're clearly in my relationship<br> well we have come to that time in the hour where I would really love to hear what's on your heart about this subject so again if you would like to call in I would love to hear from me I love to talk to you the number is 888-627-6008 that's 888-627-6008 and I will be taking your calls after the break again you are listening to reclaiming authenticity and I am your host dr. James hauke and I'll be back with you in 1 minute<br> okay welcome back<br> just a short break I am dr. James how can you were listening to a special one year anniversary show on reclaiming authenticity I just wanted to thank you for your support over the past year I really appreciate it I think you for your comments in a few of you have called in just again thank you the year has just flown by it's just hard to imagine that I'd start it is a year ago and I had just something that was laid upon my heart and just something that was which is very near and dear to me and just how do we reclaim our authentic selves but now here we are at the beginning of the second year of these broadcasts and something else has been laid upon my heart and that is the Alchemy of authenticity what is the spiritual transformation that takes place and then what is this purification process of becoming more and more and more authentic and going deeper and deeper or higher and higher<br> should say into more of like say I lied or dimension of our spirituality with God and how does that play out in terms of our relationships so again thank you for your support over the past year man in the just wanted to remind you that you now have the opportunity to continue as your support by becoming a monthly subscriber at the beginning of the broadcast you do not need a monthly subscription to listen to my talk shows reason to go back into the archives and and so forth but it is greatly appreciated so as I said I'll be putting subscriptions link that you can go on and click on and if you feel so glad to choose a dollar amount the monthly dollar amount you know just continue supporting this show again that would be greatly greatly appreciated so look for that and usually at this time in the show<br> that's what I'm going to be talking about next week well I've decided just to continue this theme of the Alchemy of authenticity and its you know the spiritual transformation we go through calling us into higher and higher Dimensions or a beingness of who we truly are<br> well in school as I said we may have learned in chemistry class that physical Alchemy was an is concerned with altering and transforming chemical properties within solid matter such as the classic example of a changing lead into gold gang land in my high school we are just lucky to get Bunsen burners but they never told us that but everything you do with about alchemy I learned outside of the classroom and the same is true with the spiritual Alchemy as it is concerned with freeing our vast spiritual self which has hindered you know by these unrefined parts<br> of ourselves and these could be in the form of anything from our fears or a limited personal beliefs or self-loathing or any other thing that we have convinced ourselves or we have heard of any time in our lives that pretty much tells us there's nothing more to us than that we don't really have anything good to offer or that you know you've been a loser all your life or just going to continue to be a loser or whatever it is you know that those those messages just have an ugly way of finding their way into our hearts and just keeping the very best of ourselves from coming out but spiritual Alchemy is vastly more multifaceted it it's it's very fluid it's ongoing and they said it's it's a continuous purification of our hearts much in the same way I can say<br> a metalsmith will turn up the heat You know Denise the hopper that contains the wrong mineral or metal and if you've ever seen Smith is just fascinating because it takes a lot of patients a lot of skill and just a wonderful technique to be able to just identify as the heat is being applied as increase that the dross or the impurities come to the surface as the metal is turned into a liquid and it is it is skimmed off that makes the metal pure than what it was before and I got this process is repeated over and over again and again until the metal reaches its finest Purity that it can<br> and yeah we too are going through a process of a spiritual Alchemy of authenticity you know that is it I'll call and urging to move into higher and higher dimensions of our authentic selves can't because how often does it feel like that the heat is being turned up through the past or even current events throughout the world and all we have to do is just turned on the news and we are just bombarded with one thing after another like that we just kind of we all collectively Shake our heads and say when is it going to end you know how much more can we take and so forth<br> however when we go through a process of the spiritual awakening you know sooner or later we are confronted with the fact that there seems to be so much more to us so much more to ourselves than the reality that were living in what we have a grown accustom<br> but still we may find ourselves you know often struggling with how were triggered by certain events in the world and yet at the same time having a boar intentional progression you know regarding our spirituality and often finding the courage to let go of say these non-life giving perceptions and experiences and I were to embrace more of our higher Dimension authentic selves<br> and we certainly can have a desire to live exclusively from a heart space appear light and unconditional life unconditional love<br> and yet we still have to live in a three-dimensional world as it were a world that's governed by time and I world is governed by space world is governed by structures and form and we often live in sequential order of linear time of past present future that is experience through our five senses of Sight and Sound and touch and smell and taste and we're often pulled in the directions of opposites such as how we are loved or not loved right when how many of you played that game as a child you know and then finding a field and finding some daisies and you do you have a sweetheart and you know you to say she loves me she loves me not He Loves Me He Loves Me Not and we keep going around and around that<br> easy until well we want to end up on you know he loves me or she loves me and I would just go to the next Daisy until we're happy. You don't get the odds in our favor but we got we grow up in the direction of the you know these opposites and it's not just with Daisy so you know it's not just how we are loved or not love but what about what we have or do not have or how we connect or how we disconnect or and here is a very popular one today are we good or are we bad<br> I mean anybody think about it there's was there so many conditions placed on our relationships that's when I pull us from the direction of these Polar Opposites no conditions such as well if you want to be a good person that you'll do that or if you want to be considered a good consumer in you know our society then you have to do this okay and that message is often translated or we we think we can translate it into our relationships and we start placing conditions on one another and expecting people to live up to his expectations or how many times expectations were put on you you know that if you really love me then you'll do this and if you really cared about me you would do that and so on and so forth but it's it's a moving Target you know these missions of if<br> we will never live up to him they said it's a moving Target and just when we think we can get clothes and grab it the standard changes<br> you know because it's conditional and we're never meant to be able to attain those conditions because even if we think we can do the other conditions placed on the relationship or relationships that's how damaging conditions are in in our society you know if then<br> but these polarities are are not so much a specific place than they are a state of being or a limited perception and perhaps we also want to connect with God on this lower level of awareness you know we we think that God will certainly love me if I can do this or now I have value dignity and worth in the eyes of God because I have done that okay and I said we want to connect with God you know just based on this lower level of awareness and on One sensor in one sense that's fine<br> because one thing that scripture often emphasizes is that God is more than happy to meet us where we are but I guarantee you that it's not God's ultimate desire for us to remain there when they're so much more for us to realize about God that Universe than ourselves or in other words if we want to keep it really simple we ain't seen nothing yet<br> and that's We Begin this process of higher dimensional relationship with God we will be reminded of all the negative psychological emotional and spiritual patterns within our relationships that keep us stuck in the past<br> we no longer wish to just simply dwell on those things in the past we went to move Beyond then we want to transform that we want to take on something better and we no longer wish to find peace and Grace and love but rather<br> if we listen to just a deep deep deep Cry of our soul our Sola saying yeah but how about you become peace Grace and love<br> that shifts things all together or not just going around looking for peace and Grace and love wherever we can find it but rather through transformational Grace<br> a relationship with God<br> we become peace we become Grace we become love<br> and and talk about the vibe if we give off that I mean in this sense of being missed just generates a powerful positive energy field or a vibrant our main other we can even tell us before we speak and we no longer have to worry about what we're going to say in a given situation we can just simply be would just simply be present allow ourselves to be fully present. Just with ourselves but with others in any given situation<br> but you know our negativity bias so it's baked beans that we spend too much time ruminating over the minor frustrations we experienced you know whether we're sitting in traffic or we have a disagreement with a loved one and we may ignore the many chances to to experience this wondering on gratitude throughout the day<br> and you know many people believe that the sounds so idealistic that it just may not be possible in this lifetime for them to achieve<br> but again it's the fact is that we have everything that we need to be able to live authentically and by simply incorporating as I mentioned last week for statements into our lives everyday<br> as your last week I mentioned the author Ira byock who would call these things saying the four things that matter the most and and I call it finding our true selves through restoring and being in right relationships I mean either way transformation occurs<br> forgive me<br> I forgive you<br> and I love you<br> forgive me for<br> and then you fill in the blank I forgive you for fill in the blank<br> thank you for<br> fill in the blank and I love you because<br> fill in the blank<br> you want to change your mind and then stop manifesting negativity in your life as well as moving into a higher spiritual Dimension and with your relationship with God yourself and others then focus on forgiveness gratitude and love and bring them into your heart<br> restore the broken relationships in your lives reach out to those even if it is not accepted<br> OfferUp offer forgiveness express your gratitude appreciates love Show Your Love without any thought of the outcome<br> and you know what we will begin to experience God in the most unlikely places and threw the most unlikely people which is actually where God has been found all along<br> higher spiritual relational dimensions of our authenticity not only heal but also restores and it leads us towards acceptance and peace but also compels us to bless the gift and to share this life giving energy with others<br> I shared with you for a few months and months ago that I've been to India four times in my life and each time I learn something new about myself or I I learned something new about others or even where and when God shows up again and the most unlikely places and threw the most unlikely people now I'ma try my best to learn Hindi yeah it says just one of these things is going to be a struggle for me and I already know a few simple words and phrases in Hindi but it was<br> when I was in India it was connecting to others on a soul level that allowed us to truly communicate from who we are it was like we gave each other permission to be authentic you do from simple gestures of folded hands and a gentle bow and greeting each other by saying namaste<br> to giving a cup of tea will you know being given a cup of tea from an elderly woman who wore her heart and life on her hands and in her face it was a heart to heart soul to soul connection<br> and that's where God showed up that's where God shows up<br> that was clearly and I am a lesson I learned the last time I was in India back in December of 2019 and like I said this this being my fourth trip I I wanted to do more intentional so related experience is that I have not done so much to do before little did I realize that God heard that prayer and responded to me by saying all right you say you want to see more of me here we go then you will need to stop be quiet or tension to the ordinariness around you<br> that sounds pretty easy but there wasn't now I'm a pretty big guy and it's it's hard for me not to stand out in a crowd so you know to go to through India on notice was just not going to happen people would certainly looking wonder what in the world is this dude doing here<br> but it became more about a random person's desire to be a blessing to me that taught me to not only be more intentional and looking for God in the ordinary acts of kindness but also this is exactly where the extraordinary Ness of God shows up and this is something that my teacher Bob Wicks taught me long ago about tangible Holiness there was a time when I was wanted to visit babaji's cave in the cochina in the Malia's and when I came down from the mountain I was thoroughly exhausted because well even though we are at the foothills of the Himalayas we were still a mile or so up and like I said I was coming down from the mountains in the legs were very shaky and I was exhausted and of course there is little thin up there okay<br> the bottom there was an older woman who live with her son and daughter in a very humble dwelling and she you know that I brought out a chair and then she's like set set rest rest and she was making me a cup of tea and you know she gestured for me to sit down maybe she thought I was going to get rid of the fall down I don't know but at any rate I sat down and I was grateful for the chair but that the any rate that kindness in her eyes as she handed me to T really touched my soul<br> it was just a very simple act of kindness and no other words were spoken<br> I tell you that that was the most delicious cup of tea I've ever had<br> another time I was visiting I saw your Gram at the ashram in brindavan and there were offering free cataract surgeries for people in the camps and I had know that they have done this I just locked out that I was just there as they were you know performing these surgeries and they performed over 300 surgeries in a few days and as I walked around the ashram I saw families living in tents and makeshift shelters all to be close to their loved ones who are having surgery that week<br> and as I was walking around families and children would invite me to sit with them and have tea or share a simple snacking all filled with smiles and gratitude to share what they had with a stranger<br> and I wasn't sure who was blessed the most mirror that because although we didn't speak one another's language we did share that soul to soul connection<br> and at another time I also visited children who lived at the Visalia Graham ashram and knowing that kids generally love music I took my Native American flute with me you hear this flute and then the music before I have to break and even after the theater shows and so I took my Native American flute and I played for them and I stayed with them for about an hour and a half or so each day you know after their lessons were over classes were over they would have some free time so that that's what I would join them and we would just sit and then did they would teach me some games and I would play the flute and so forth<br> and quite often as I played they would return the blessing you know by singing for me and these were you know kids ages 5 through 7 years old and one time I had visited a house where there were mentally challenged kids living there and again as I put my flute and I played their eyes widened and their to see smiles were certainly visible and that one point and I was playing a young boy I have about eight or nine years old who was born without sight<br> started to sing along with me as the ui's I was playing the tune and the grandmothers and mothers and the aunts who were actually the caretakers of the children they're all astonished and I was told later through an interpreter that this boy had never sang before<br> I thought you would often stay very very quiet<br> everyday examples of where God shows up<br> giving a cup of cold water or tea when you have done it to the least of these you have done it unto me Jesus said<br> when were able to do this at the next all of Heaven start to do backflips and they cheer cheer lap and got everything difficult from us you know God's asking us to visit the sick visit those who are imprisoned giving water feeding all these things we are certainly capable of doing but what makes these ordinary acts of kindness transformational is that God shows up and it then becomes extraordinary<br> this is what we're being called into this is the transformational times in which we live to let go of those things that no longer provide life and to take on something far greater it is indeed an Alchemy of authenticity<br> we are called into higher and higher dimensions in our relationship with God and ourselves and others<br> Grace filled moments<br> teachable moments life-changing moments<br> and as we minister to another in the physical sense we also administer to others in the spiritual sense<br> as I said before we often make it harder or even more complicated than what it needs to be and yet God says to us you do what you can do<br> I'll take care of the rest and if we ever want to see the extraordinary grace of God<br> pay attention to the ordinary<br> well I'm so glad that you have decided to spend this hour with me they said it was just a special one year anniversary and again thank you for the tremendous tremendous support that you have showed me thank you for your prayers thank you for your wonderful comments I I certainly certainly appreciate it<br> my name is dr. James hauke and you have been listening to reclaiming authenticity I will be with you next Friday 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time noon Pacific Standard Time and until we meet again may God bless you and may God Hold Us in the palm of God's hands take care<br> 4000 comments or product to buy a book by dr. hope it's all there just to calm and we'll see you next Friday at noon Pacific Time on CBS Radio TV<br>