Rev. Celeste's guest is Rev. Marie Kirkland. Rev. Marie is a licensed minister with the Centers for Spiritual Living. She is the Founder and Spiritual Director of Living Aligned Virtual Ministry (www.livingalignedvirtualministry.org). Living with an open heart, she inspires sacred conversations that lead to self-discovery. And she facilitates classes that evoke curiosity and empowers individuals to live aligned and forward.
Living Aligned means being at home in your own life, not betraying any part of yourself. We need to live our whole life in a way that we can deepen relationships (especially with ourselves and with the God of our understanding).
The Living Aligned community has several circles. One is a Spiritual Thought and Leadership Circle - a sacred space for New Thought ministers to come together in conscious leadership to expand and grow together. Other circles are called Living Aligned, Finding Your Voice, Aligning our Body Temple and Spiritual Pathways.
Living Aligned is an online community where people can create their own experience. They have sacred conversations every Tuesday.
Marie is a contributing author to the Amazon Best Selling book, "Speaking Your Truth" (https://www.amazon.com/Speaking-Your-Truth-Courageous-Inspiring-ebook/dp/B005LIDUGW/ref=sr_1_16?). This book is a collaboration where several authors came together. Rev. Marie's contribution is a chapter entitled "Ready to Listen Now". She was working as a manager, mothering via Bluetooth, putting out fires, arranging to attend the kid's concert or game when she had a certain feeling in her chest. She left to go to an urgent care facility. They sent her to the hospital immediately. In the back of the ambulance, she said "I'm ready to listen now". It was a catalyst for change for her.
She uses mindfulness as a way of being. She has monk mode in the morning. She does the dailies and spends time in the silence. She does her spiritual practice, such as meditation or journaling, etc. She does her deep work here. In her schedule, she leaves space between appointments to breathe into it. Her health has certainly improved and she is conscious to keep it that way. This path of discovery has been her body temple.
Her next book is "Doing Less to Become More".
Marie is now working on her doctorate in Spiritual Psychology. In her research, her question is where is the gap in what we currently know? She is an advocate for spiritual communities to live aligned, eliminating burnout for first responders, ministers, social workers, teachers. She is learning the best practices to do that.
Marie has served the World Ministry of Prayer in the past and they have a ministry of prayer at Living Aligned. You can submit prayer requests at livingalignedvirtualministry.org and licensed spiritual practitioners will pray for you.
Rev. Marie has a podcast called "Living Aligned Living Forward" (Living Aligned Living Forward with Marie Kirkland on Apple Podcasts). This podcast is an intimate conversation with the guest (spiritual leaders and cultural creatives) and asking how they are living aligned. What are the lessons have they learned? Sometimes, we bump up against ourselves when we are in an intersection with Truth before us, paradox behind us and fear and faith. REv. Celeste will be on an upcoming episode on that podcast.
Reach her at livingalignedcommunity.org or mariekirkland.com
Listen to Rev. Celeste's poem, "Living Aligned".