Leaving a Spiritual Trail

By Rev. Ellen Wallace Douglas

This is the latest book by Rev. Ellen. All her books were inspired (except her memoirs). This book continues to pass on Archangel Gabriel’s lessons in truth given through Rev. Penny to a group in Albany, NY, from 1987 to 1999. Check out sacredgardenfellowship.org Gabriel is the Announcer of the Ages. This is the Age of Aquarius. Gabriel called it the Truth Age. It is the first age of our spiritual journey back Home to God, our Source and Substance. Pisces was the last age of our devolution. Now humankind begins its revolution back to its Creator. May the reader enjoy the journey of awakening to your sacred Self.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781698709246

Rev. Ellen Wallace Douglas

Rev. Douglas is a retired drug counselor, an ordained Christian Metaphysical minister. She served as pastor at Trinity Temple of the Holy Spirit and the Church of Religious Science of the Capital District, both in Albany, New York. After retiring Rev. Douglas presented several guest sermons for seven years at Unity Church of the Southern Tier, in Endwell, New York. When Archangel came to bring the wisdom of the ages, Rev. Douglas was blessed to be in the audience. Gabriel's lessons in truth impelled her to pass on his teachings through her writing, which has always been inspired by spirit. Rev. Douglas is mother of four children, grandmother of nine, and great-grandmother of eight. She resides in Avon, New York.

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Copyright 2021 Rev. Ellen Wallace Douglas.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-6987-0925-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6987-0924-6 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Trafford rev. 09/03/2021

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Contents

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Dedication

Acknowledgements

Epigraph

Monday

Always Looking Up

Tuesday

Anatomy of Prayer

Wednesday

A Spiritual Audit

Thursday

Ancient Editors

Friday

And They Followed Him

Saturday

Closing Down Perceptions

Sunday

Angels Crowd the Earth

Monday

Blessing the Motley Crew

Tuesday

Children of Promise

Wednesday

Day of Emancipation

Thursday

Dependence on God

Friday

Discovering Our Light

Saturday

Everyone has a Garden

Sunday

Believing the Unbelievable

Monday

Canals of the World

Tuesday

Everyone Can Heal

Wednesday

Deaf and Blind Earthlings

Thursday

Finding the Father Within

Friday

Eight Blessed Groups

Saturday

From... to Gabriel’s History Lesson

Sunday

Eternalness of Love

Monday

Dissolving the Ego

Tuesday

Flying Over the Rainbow

Wednesday

Form and Content

Thursday

From Dominion to Dominance

Friday

Forgotten Wisdom

Saturday

Lights of the World

Sunday

For Heaven’s Sake

Monday

Fear as Fantasy

Tuesday

God, Help Me Remember

Wednesday

Heaven’s Door is Ajar

Thursday

Hebrews 9:27

Friday

God Loves My Cat

Saturday

Morning in June

Sunday

From Eden to Gethsemane

Monday

Gabriel on Semantics

Tuesday

Law of the Land

Wednesday

New Year’s Eve

Thursday

Message for the Ego

Friday

How to Experience Truth

Saturday

Second Coming

Sunday

It’s All There!

Monday

How to Know Thyself

Tuesday

My Burgeoning Faith

Wednesday

Our Personal Wilderness

Thursday

Prayer of Mother Earth

Friday

Nothing Can Destroy Truth

Saturday

That Night in Bethlehem

Sunday

Love Songs to God

Monday

Life with Lily

Tuesday

One Thousand Years

Wednesday

Ready for Truth

Thursday

Romans 11:8

Friday

Problem with Thinking

Saturday

The Most Distant Shore

Sunday

Our Internal Nature

Monday

Making New Plans

Tuesday

Stuck on Earth

Wednesday

The Ego’s Consciousness

Thursday

That Day on Golgotha

Friday

Talents of a Housewife

Saturday

The Wholeness

Sunday

Realms of the Future

Monday

Our Animal Friends

Tuesday

The New, New Story

Wednesday

The Terraced Heights

Thursday

The Unwelcome Truth

Friday

The Road Seldom Taken

Saturday

The World We Own

Sunday

The Chosen Route

Monday

The Dream We’re Living

Tuesday

The Waiting Kingdom

Wednesday

Timeless Wisdom

Thursday

The Vertical Axis

Friday

This Thing Called Hell

Saturday

True Rehabilitation

Sunday

The Will to Know

Monday

The Wisdom of Shakespeare

Tuesday

Try the Spirits

Wednesday

What the World Forgot

Thursday

Truth Center Stage

Friday

West and East Scripture

Saturday

Who is in Charge?

Sunday

This Time Around

Bibliography

Dedication

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This book is gratefully dedicated to my most recent great-grandchildren, born since 2017: Peony Fershleiser and Ellie Scott.

Acknowledgements

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From my hospice room, I asked Ina Valerie Doyle to complete editing this book, and send it to Trafford. Abundant thanks, Val.

My son, Martin Wallace Douglas (Marty) took the photo on front cover for fun. Weeks later I asked his permission to use it for the cover. I greatly appreciate his acquiescence.

My Course in Miracles Group provided input for many of the chapters. Thanks so much, ladies, for your continuing support of my work.

Epigraph

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Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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MONDAY

Always Looking Up

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What on earth are you doing for Heaven’s sake? author unknown

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This is my favorite church lawn sign. It is a common practice to deride people who are eternal optimists. They are said to be looking at life through rose-colored glasses, instead of seeing life as it truly is. Archangel Gabriel made note of the fact that even when our eyelids are closed in prayer, our eyes gaze upward. Up is where we perceive God to be. Up is where the ancients looked for comfort, for a good harvest, and for answers. Up into the endless sky is where stars were observed, and we assigned powers to the ones that seemed to form a person or a creature. Myths were born. Perhaps our eyes see space as the place where all answers are found. Maybe we know the answers are there, but they are forever as unknowable as the stars are unreachable. Or was our fascination due to the fact that somehow we remembered that we came from there?

Climbing up the highest mountain tempts and teases some of us to climb, as if reaching the peak means we have conquered the mountain, or as though the apex held a secret prize. Up, as high as one can jump, invites the Olympic competitor. Pole vaulting invited others. The ability to fly through the air was a very exciting discovery. Now we could enjoy the journey of flight as the birds always did. In the business world, we want to climb up the corporate ladder to wealth, or fame, or control. Or all three.

The flying objects we see in the sky move at speeds we cannot comprehend. These unknown, unidentified objects can hover, can accelerate suddenly, and can fly at a speed our aircraft have never attained. Is a person or a department of the government attempting to communicate with them? Are they perceived as friendly neighbors who are curious about life on Earth, or do we look in fear at a perceived enemy who has no plan but to harm us? We came and conquered the New World fearlessly. It was the result of conquering the sea, then finding the land mass, and then meeting the residents. We joined them in peace and agreed to treaties. We broke every promise we made, and then we conquered them. The diaspora is now living on designated land areas called reservations. Thus is an interesting title, for we had no reservations about breaking our word after signing our name as law.

Today we calmly agree to a nation of classes when a democracy ought to be a kind of classless society. There is nothing new under the sun. The kings of the past with their wealth and power have been replaced by governments with their wealth and power. The famous quotation of Marie Antoinette, Let them eat cake, was a comment she made when told the populace had no bread. In her high estate, she could not conceive of a situation in which a person could in fact go hungry without any food for subsistence. In modern times we see street people who are living in tents and forming an underclass. We accept the terms lower, middle, and upper class with impunity. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.

I wonder if the street people look up. To the rest of us, it seems that from their condition, up is the only direction available. I would be willing to bet that the impoverished pray and that they look up for something better. The reasons people live on the street are many. Some people cannot afford the rent in the area. Some do not really care as long as they can obtain the elements required to stay drugged. Some people were dumped out on the street in the sixties when mental institutions were shut down by the government. Has anyone ever taken a survey of street people?

What has troubled me the most at this time is the fact announced recently that in my beloved hometown there are 2,000 homeless children attending school. This is untenable. This is shameful. What uncaring attitude came up with this fact? What kind of people have we become? Can we look up and pray to God for anyone else but these kids?

We must always look up. We must always remember to pray to the God who put us on Earth at our request. Gabriel wondered why we number our wars. Since numbers extend to infinity, are we planning wars that continue on forever? Or can we support and strengthen the unification of nations we know as the United Nations? Most nations of the earth are members. Do they all abide by the charter?

Thank God we can still look up for salvation, for comfort, for guidance, and for healing. At this time there is a plague on Earth called Covid19 (influenza). I was not alive when the Spanish Flu took many lives during WWI. I did do some research for my writing about that era, and I was shocked to see that screaming headlines regarding the war overshadowed the terrible news at the bottom of the front page. It stated, ‘Thirty second state hit with flu.’ Reading the article, I found that graves could not be dug fast enough to bury the quickly dying dead. Florists ran out of flowers for the services.

Today’s pandemic is worse. The dead cannot be turned over to relatives because of the level of contagion. Many people are recovering, but the views we see now include face masks everywhere, empty streets, deserted parks, and lonely beaches. Can we still look up? Can we continue to expect recovery? Of course, we can; of course, we do. Something inside us reminds us that we are better than this. We can rise above any disaster because humankind survives. We will continue to survive on earth until we come to understand that we always look up because up is our Source. Up is where we belong. Up is our destiny. Up is where Heaven is. Up is where our dear ones who have passed on look down on us and wait for us.

"I am the owner of the sphere,

Of the seven stars and the solar year,

Of Caesar’s hand, and Plato’s brain,

Of Lord Christ’s heart, and Shakespeare’s strain." Emerson

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TUESDAY

Anatomy of Prayer

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"I exhort thee therefore, that, first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.

For kings and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. (I Tim. 2:1-2)

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The what, where, when and why, as well as how we pray is the focus of this brief essay. It is interesting to note that Paul’s first letter to Timothy names prayer as only one of many ways to address God. Today’s generally accepted definition of prayer includes supplications, asking humbly and earnestly, intercessions of entreaty for another, and giving of thanks.

It appears that Paul is speaking to the common people because he mentions kings and others in authority. Like his great teacher and leader, Jesus, Paul addressed the people in his teachings, but he advises that their prayers be for all people. The word pray goes back to the Old High German and Anglo-French languages. Pray without ceasing (1st Th. 5:17) is found New Testament. Archangel Gabriel told us that we are a prayer. In that sense, we pray without ceasing merely by living. In Genesis of the Old Testament Let there be no strife, I pray thee. (Gen.13:8) Whatever century this ancient book was written; peace was clearly sought.

It is irrelevant where we are geographically when we pray. When a bridge collapsed on the New York State Thruway in the 1990s and a truck fell through to the ground, I have little doubt that the driver prayed for survival. It is a natural instinct to live. At one time we associated prayer time with church attendance. Now churches are closing or joining with others to survive. Prayers continue. In the home we pray for peace and love. In the work place, we pray for harmony. On the construction site, we pray for safety. On the highway we pray for comfort and assurance of our destination. In the hospital we pray for a speedy recovery.

When we pray depends on our personal needs, at any hour of the day or night. The faith of our fathers continues, for we still believe that God hears us at any time when we seek His attention. We seek His attention when we ‘come to the end of our rope,’ and we do not know where else to turn. Perhaps it is grief, or pain, or disappointment, but we turn to Something above us for relief.

To whom we pray varies greatly. Some people pray to God or the Lord. Every religion has its deity to whom adherents can direct their prayers. Some pray to the Holy Spirit. Others pray to their Guardian Angel. Catholics pray to St. Anthony to find lost items. It is irrelevant to whom we direct our prayers. The mighty Creator hears all prayers.

How we pray is extremely important. Gabriel provided us with an explanation that we need to remember in future prayers. God’s angels are free as we are in choices, except they can only understand good. Anything not-good is beyond their comprehension. An example might help. At a Gabriel seminar one day, after the lunch break, Gabriel told us this story:

‘One of my helper angels came to me during the lunch break and asked me a question. Pointing to a dark spot in the heart area of a student, she asked me what it was. I told her it was sadness. She said, ‘What is sadness?’ And I said, ‘It is the opposite of love.’ The angel did not understand, because she knows only love.’ Gabriel also reminded us that in prayer, even if our eyelids are shut, our eyes look up.

In another seminar Gabriel said that if love had an opposite, it would be apathy. "But what is all-encompassing can have no opposite"’ Gabriel also shared a story about a woman climbing a mountain. As she climbed, she prayed, ‘Don’t let me fall off the mountain.’ She fell off the mountain. We could say that God failed her, and our faith would crumble. Angels do not comprehend anything negative or any words of negativity. Therefore, what the angels heard was ‘fall off the mountain.’ And they complied with her request.

The way we pray must be positive and stated in positive ways. The woman on the mountain would have reached the top if she had prayed, ‘Thank you for a safe journey to the top of the mountain.’

When I board my car, I say, ‘Thank you my angels for a safe and comfortable ride out and back.’

When a friend says to me, ‘I ask God to help me not hit a deer.’ I remind her that what is heard is ‘hit a deer’.

"Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer

Than this world dreams of: Wherefore, let thy voice,

Rise like a fountain for me night and day."

Idylls of the King" by Tennyson

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WEDNESDAY

A Spiritual Audit

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In the world of business, the customary meaning of an audit is a formal examination of an organization’s financial condition. It consists of reviewing the books of record to assure honesty and integrity of financial reports. There is nothing that bothers a business owner more than having the government audit its books or review its tax history. When I was a tax examiner and called on a small local business, I was greeted with a welcoming smile. When I explained my reason for being there, there was a visible change in attitude.

We rarely if ever take on the responsibility of reviewing our spiritual condition. When a person learns they have a terminal illness, sometimes they are prompted to take an inventory of past attitudes and behaviors with the intention of being ready for the end of life. The addicted person who finally decides to seek recovery is strongly encouraged to take a moral inventory with rigorous honesty.

The spirit which is contained in our body does not suddenly reveal itself when we seek a straight and sober life. In truth, our spirit self is forever invisible to mortal eyes. On the other hand, our feelings affect another aspect of our being. Feelings affect our aura, an egg-shaped energy which surrounds every human.

The aura is composed of segments … attuned to the mind . . . and the emotional as well as the physical body. This statement came from an entity in spirit to beloved woman Reverend Penny. At times Penny woke up in the middle of the night and was given a brief lesson from spirit. These words were contained in a short discourse received by her at 2:00 am on October 5, 2017. The spirit entity described himself as Thomas. Other entities in the spirit world also woke Penny up with brief inspirational messages. After several such occasions, Rev. Penny decided to publish the messages she received. The booklet is entitled Moonlight Wisdom.

Most people are unaware of their aura which reflects our mental attitudes and our emotions.

This is all adhered to in what appears to be the one egg-shaped body with its fluctuating colors. The soul ‘records’ the various segments . . . faithfully. Nothing can erase this information from the soul except through spiritual cleansing. (MW, 42)

Anyone can easily be trained to see an aura. It reveals information in various colors. For example, pink is boundless love. Red is passion. Green is the color of healing, yellow reflects wisdom, and orange is physical health. The . . . ego can manifest as a bubble-like appendage . . . and can surround the aura and dull its appearance.

From 1999 to 2002 I presented weekly classes in spiritual development. On occasion I would offer a guest speaker. One of the guests painted a person with the auras she could read. I asked the class who would like to sit for the artist. They all suggested that I be the subject. It is about two feet wide and four feet high. It has several colors in it. My granddaughter Stephanie has it.

Archangel Gabriel told us that Mother Earth has an aura, though he did not describe it. However, I well recall the time that Gabriel asked Rev. Penny to go to Las Vegas for a seminar. Rev. Penny told me this story. As she looked out her hotel window high above the city, she saw a dirty green haze. She asked Gabriel what it meant. His answer was, That, beloved woman, is what greed looks like.

Gabriel also suggested that when we take a shower we ought to cleanse our aura which means simply to ask our many angels to wash away any negative vibrations in the aura. It is an excellent way to start the day, in addition to prayer and meditation.

When addiction is addressed, we are encouraged to take an honest and rigorous inventory of our past attitudes and behaviors. Desisting from the addictive behavior is only the beginning. We must seek and create a complete personality change. Habitual negative thinking must be replaced by positive thinking. This route to sobriety is supported and enhanced by the ‘Serenity Prayer’,

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

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THURSDAY

Ancient Editors

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The word ‘editor’ first appeared in the English language in 1649. In 1791 ‘edit’ was invented. Edit means to prepare for publication. The third definition is ‘to bring about conformity to a standard or to suit a particular purpose.’

Long before our modern dictionary appeared, ancient editors certainly did seek a conformity and with a particular purpose. Archangel Gabriel (1987 to 1999) made us aware of the fact that original scripture contained some mistranslations. Either by accident of incompetent translators or by intent of the rulers, the phrase ‘Jesus Christ, begotten son of the only God’ became ‘Jesus Christ, only begotten Son of God.’ Our Holy Bible, consisting of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Christian New Testament, was first written in the Arabic and Hebrew languages. They were translated and re-translated until King James I sought a Bible in the English language in the seventeenth century.

Is it too much of a stretch of the imagination to believe that ancient rulers dictated to their scribes how the language should be printed on papyrus? Ancient rulers maintained their power by pleasing their subjects. Nothing then, or now, pleases us more than conforming. Each ruler had an agenda to stay in power. What better way than to establish a sacred writing about conforming?

Gabriel informed us that much that was included in the original scripture books was purged. All references to the many women who followed Jesus were deleted from the text. All references to reincarnation were deleted. Gabriel also provided us the truth about some stories in the Bible. The lions who refrained from eating Daniel in their den (Dan.6-22) did so because angels surrounded Daniel with such an obnoxious stench that the lions