Pies, Diets, and Other Disasters

Today in my Daily GPS, the word identity came to me, and I realized that there is a lot of pressure that we put on ourselves because we want to be seen in a certain way and as a specific person. For example, I am a master pie maker and have been making pie since I was nine. I have constantly been coming up with new recipes and trying new ideas, things, tricks, tweaks, and everything until I have mastered it. I'm still open to learning. I'm still learning; that is a way that I used to introduce myself in the past: I would tell people I was a master pie maker, and everybody would be like, 'wow, that's cool.'

Pie-making is a lost art. A lot of people don't make their pies anymore. There are restaurants and stores where people buy their holiday pies or whatever. I've had people come to me and ask me if I would teach them how to make pies for the holidays. So that was important to me to be the master pie maker, like, in a social group, in a social setting. Like I said, that's how I used to introduce myself. And so it would spark a conversation. It would be a way that people could kind of get to know me, and that would be memorable to them. So I wanted to share with you a few years ago, probably, I don't know, like five or six years ago, I did something that I call pie night.

I think many people do pie nights now, but I was the first person I ever knew who did pie nights, and it's the night before Thanksgiving. We do pie. I make other food, too. We have chili and non-Thanksgiving foods, and we just have a few close friends get together. When I started doing this, it was like, wow, that's a brilliant idea, and I started doing it because pie was really important to me. And at the end of your Thanksgiving dinner, when you stuffed yourself, the pie doesn't look that good anymore. So when we started doing pie night on Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving, we did it so that we could enjoy pie. I'd make like eight different kinds of pie, and we would enjoy the pie and a lot of good friendship and fun; everyone enjoyed being together.

Then, on Thanksgiving day, we would get together with family and have Thanksgiving dinner. And it was okay if we didn't want to gobble up the pie on Thanksgiving Day because we'd already had our fill of that the night before. S anyway, that was something that I identified as a master pie maker. So this one year, about four or five years ago, my husband and I and several of our friends were on a diet. It was like a special food plan that was healthy eating. It didn't include sugar, dairy, or gluten. So all three of those things were off the table. And if you like pie and you make a pie, you know, they're made with flour, and a lot of the cream pies are made with milk, and of course, they all have lots of sugar. So it was like, what will we do because we have to have pie night? So I took it upon myself to figure this out. I told myself, okay, I'm a master pie maker. I can do this. I can look up some recipes, and I can make gluten-free pies. I can make sugar-free pies or low-sugar pies. I can do this. But that pie night was the biggest disaster. I still look back on it with horror. 

I don't take it on myself anymore like I used to, but it took me about a year to get over it because I'm a master pie maker. My pies are amazing, and people rave about them. One of the guys that we invited one time, I made pecan pie, and of course, it was loaded with sugar, but it was amazing. And he called me up the next day, he was at his sister's house having Thanksgiving dinner, and he called me up, and he said, I'm mad at you; I hate you. I was like, what? Why? He says, you showed me what pecan pie is supposed to taste like, and I'm here at my sister's house, and pecan pie is my favorite. I can't eat it. I can't eat it. He said this pie is like a mere shadow of the pie you made last night. We laughed about it. 

That is the difference, you know, when you know how to make a pie, and it's good. It's like the difference between is this, is this like amazing or is it just, you know, something with a bunch of sugar in it. So anyway, when I did this, I took it upon myself to be the master pie maker of the gluten-free, the low-sugar, the, you know, the low-fat, all this stuff, you know, no shorter, no shortening, no gluten, no flour, you know, all these things. So I made these pies, and some of them were edible. And I'm like, how in the heck could somebody even put this recipe on the internet? This is just like ridiculous. So it took about a year to get over that because I had identified myself as a master pie maker and somebody who makes amazing pies.

After that event, I had at my house where some special friends came over; it was like the hugest letdown. All of us agreed we are never doing that again. If you're going to eat pie, you eat pie, and it's got gluten in it, dairy in it, and sugar in it. And if you choose not to participate, that's fine, but we'll make it that way. So we got over it, we got through it, and we're back to making good pies. But I also learned in that experience that if I identify myself as something that is associated with my accolades, with my accomplishments, then there can be a situation where it could be judged, where it could be you're not as good as you think you are, a situation where I can judge myself and feel that other people could judge that, too.

When we associate our identity with something on Earth that is like accolades and accomplishments, then it is something that can be taken away. It's not permanent. Somebody else might be able to judge that. So, no, you're not as good as you think. And another way, you know, that we create that separate identity based on accolades and others' opinions is in the way that we look, in the way that we present ourselves physically with the clothes that we wear and the makeup that we put on and the haircuts that we have. All those things are great. They are an enjoyable way to express our creativity. For example, I wore these amazing earrings because it's like, this is me, this is something that I love to do, and I love wearing makeup. 

Putting on makeup is a creative expression for me. It's something that is an art to me. So it is something that I love to do. There's nothing wrong with that. And I am still a pie maker, a master pie maker, and I love making pies. So I still do that, and I love it, but there's a different way that I identify myself now, and it is a way that is more on an eternal perspective, an inner plane versus earthly accomplishments, earthly ways. So that's what I wanted to talk about today is your identity. I think this is why around the holidays, we put so much pressure on ourselves because we feel like it's our responsibility to make things wonderful. 

I often catch myself thinking, I am the gathering place. I am the one to keep the traditions going. I am the one that people turn to for a cheerful holiday. I'm the one that keeps this going. If we identify with that and we think that is where our value and our worth are, then we can put a lot of pressure on ourselves to have it be perfect. So let me just talk a little bit about where the true measure of our identity, our uniqueness, and our perfectness comes from. We seek to be somebody, to stand out and be recognized. Our accolades and improving our appearance is a ways that we can do that on an earthly plane. First impressions that present a good physical appearance are important, but the problem is that it can be a contrived identity to be noticed. That motivation can be shattered if we don't get the desired result and if we don't have the response we're looking for. So the solution to all of this is to find our eternal identity, and that eternal spirit that we have within us cannot be judged because this is coming straight from God, and in God, each of us is perfect and worthy. So what I want to do right now is just take a moment, and we're going to do a short meditation and just take a moment and tap into who that person is because there is a memory. It kind of got blocked, veiled when we came to this Earth when we came through the atmosphere from God to Earth into our parents' homes. When we became a baby, that spirit of our eternal identity was veiled. The memory of that spirit was veiled. So we're going to take a moment and just return to that place: our original home, our real home, our true home where we are seen as valuable and worthy and eternal and unique. 

So go ahead and close your eyes and just take a deep breath with me. I invite you to go to a place in nature, in your mind, in your mind's eye. Go to a place in nature, and whether this is a tropical location or a mountain location, a desert, or wherever it is, just allow yourself to go to a place in nature that feels really happy and peaceful and comfortable to you. It could be just in your backyard, wherever you are; just allow yourself to go to that place and look around yourself and notice the colors and the smells and the sights and what you feel. Maybe you reach out and feel some of the foliage, or you can feel a breeze on your face, or you can feel the temperature. You can feel the ground beneath your feet, whatever the texture of the Earth is beneath your feet. So whatever you feel, whatever you see, looking at the colors and taking a deep breath and smell, maybe you can smell the bark of the tree, or maybe you can smell rain or mist or do in the air.

Allow yourself to be enveloped in all of your senses. As you look around, I invite you to notice that up ahead in the short distance; there is a light. A little path leads to it, and maybe there is a clearing. If you're in a tropical location, maybe there's a beach where you can see the foliage open up. There's an opening where you can see the light. Or perhaps it is just this ethereal light that is pouring down just in front of you. This path that leads to it, whatever is in your mind's eye that is perfect, it's exactly what you're supposed to see. 

I invite you to, at this moment, just make the commitment to go forward and stand in the light, and whatever inhibitions or fears that you're feeling about stepping into the light, set those aside for just a moment and allow yourself to know and trust that this light is safe. It's perfect. It is where you're going that will return you to that original home where only love, and light exist.

When you have made that decision to go ahead and step forward into the light, go ahead and take those few steps that it takes to allow yourself to step into the light and be bathed in light and feel the warmth of it coming down onto the top of your head and on your shoulders, as you breathe in, feel that light breathing in, soaking in through the top of your head and shoulders so that you can feel it in your chest. You can feel it in your face, you can feel it in your extremities, in your arms, and down in the core of your body and in your legs and feet and fingertips and toes, that you're completely enveloped in the light. And you're infused in light. That light is permeating you, and you're feeling the warmth of it, feeling yourself being lit up. It's like your spirit is growing to the full measure of your physical body. But, even beyond that, you are just completely filled with light and warmth, and that warmth of spirit is also filling you up from the inside.

As you are filled with this light of spirit, you are ready to re-enter God's presence, your Father's presence, and to have a little Father-son or Father-daughter chat with Him, for Him to help you remember who you are and just allow that conversation to happen. However, it feels right for you, whether you ascend to Him or He steps into the light with you, or that He was already in the light and you are now just in His presence. Whatever way feels right to you, allow that to unfold for you, and it's perfect. Take a moment now and have a conversation with Him. With gratitude, allow the Holy Spirit to help you understand what it is that God would want to tell you today about who you are as his son or daughter and as His, perhaps His servant on Earth, but most especially just who you are in his eyes. Especially asking that question helps me remember who I am and take note of the things I see and feel within myself. The Holy Spirit is within you. I sense that this light that we've allowed in us is the Holy Ghost which has the power to interpret whisperings from God, which also has the purpose of the Holy Ghost to confirm the truth and to help you know the truth of all things. 

One more deep breath and I invite you to this whole day to remain in the light that you stay open to allow His word, His inspiration, to come to you and invite and ask that the Holy Spirit remain with you to be able to confirm the truth of those words, that He would still have you know about who you are and knowing that the Holy Spirit and that God will remain with you throughout the day. So I invite you two at this moment to begin to ready yourself to return to the present, stay in the light, and return to your daily activities on Earth.

When I count to three, you will be back in that place where you chose in nature that is comfortable and safe but also stays in the light. Staying in your mind's eye and that place in my heart as I count to 3: 1, 2, 3. As you're in that place in nature, I invite you to again look around with your earthly senses and see, feel, hear, smell, and touch all the things in nature that you're seeing and recognizing. If you, at any point in today, get overwhelmed with the pressures of who you want others to see you or who they think you are, you can return to this place in nature. Remember that you are still in the light there. For now, let's go ahead and return to the present moment on Earth, staying in the light on the Earth but a little bit above it. Go ahead and come back to the present now, feeling the chair beneath you and the ground beneath you, the floor, whatever it is, wherever you are right now, in this present moment and on Earth, return to that place.