Part Three Recognizing Your Spiritual Experiences

By Sandy Paris Keynote Speaker and Author of the Dream Reality Book Series.

There are many ways we experience divine love, guidance, and protection from Holy Spirit. One way to recognize our spiritual experiences is called “Waking Dreams”, which can be recognized as something spiritual we see in our life. It may be a message on a license plate, billboard, a difficult experience, or watching ourselves in the mirror of life. A waking dream, if recognized, can alert us to danger, be an answer to our questions, and wake us up to the treasures of divine love. By recognizing these spiritual experiences for the gifts they truly are, it makes life much easier then ever before thought possible.

“People see God every day,
they just don’t recognize Him.”

Pearl Bailey

Story:
Waking Dream: Flying an Airplane

I used to park my car on the top of the hill above a small airport where I lived and watch the airplanes take off and land. This was a waking dream that sparked a flame within my heart that lit up the reality that I was going to buy an airplane and get my pilot’s license.

I moved from the waking dream of flying to the reality and action of inquiring about flying lessons. I purchased a Cessna 150 airplane and started flying lessons in spite of my limited vision of thinking it was impossible. Fortunately, a deeper passion from my heart than my ego’s limitations recognized that I could do it.
I studied all the flying material on my own and with the help of Holy Spirit’s guidance, I passed the test the first time with a high score. Others had retaken the test several times and were still unable to pass.

Other pilots repeatedly told me that there was no way I could do it on my own. Nevertheless, I knew I could. I had all the help I needed within and that knowingness overcame the outer limitations that surrounded me.

The time finally arrived for me to take my first cross-country solo flight. I got up early that morning in order to get the airplane ready. First, I could not get the oilcan open. I ended up squishing oil all over the ground. I opened another can and the same thing happened. Finally, after three attempts I got the oil in the plane. Holy Spirit was trying to tell me not to take the flight. Yet, I still ignored the waking dream.

It was a very cold windy morning. My scheduled flight was from Fallon Nevada, about 60 miles east of Reno, to Columbia, California. I would have to fly over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which I had never done before.

I had many waking dream warnings that this was not the day to do this flight. Nevertheless, I persisted in spite of all the warnings. Fear let my common sense be overrun by my ego.

Was I just scared?

What would the other pilots think?

These were all the wrong reasons in making such an important life or death decision.

As I began to fly over the high mountains, the airplane’s wings began to collect ice, which was not a good thing. There were strong headwinds, and it was very turbulent. I was bouncing all over. The headwinds altered my actual flying speed. I was going about half the speed I thought I was going.

I managed to land at the Placerville airport to refuel the airplane only to discover there was no one there. I had filed a flight plan so I decided, in order to keep on schedule, that I better fly on to Columbia, which wasn’t too far away, and gas up there.

The Placerville airport being closed was another warning not to go on. Again, the strong nudge of ego drowned out the waking dream of inner knowingness that was trying to keep me safe.

Because of the strong head winds, my reference points on the map were not lining up with the reference points on the ground. Between the headwinds, timing, and reference points, I was getting lost.

Columbia has a very small airport and even experienced pilots often have trouble finding it. I finally found another airport and decided to attempt to land there. I was used to landing on a five-thousand-foot landing strip. The landing strip I found was only two thousand feet long--and looked even shorter eight hundred feet above it. It was located at the base of a mountain with tall trees and a pond at the other end of the runway. Not a good scenario!

My fuel was getting very low. I tried to make the landing, but was unable to manage it because of how short the landing strip was. My approach was too high so I decided to find the Columbia airport. The further I flew, the more lost I became. There was nowhere to land, as that area was very mountainous without any open flat spots. By this time, my fuel was almost gone.

It was the first time in my life that I experienced a deep level of fear beyond anything I had ever experienced before.

I knew if I did not get my fear under control I would probably crash. I began to take long deep breaths until I got to a point where I was hardly breathing. I seemed to be suspended above time and space. I became so still and quiet that I finally gained the ability to see the whole spiritual picture instead of the jumbled confusion that fear brings with it. I decided to land at the first airport with the short landing strip. I knew I only had one chance and I had to make it good.

In the calmest state I have ever experienced I brought the plane down, almost touching the tops of the trees, and landed at the base of the mountain. I had just enough room to stop the plane before it plunged into the pond of water at the end of the runway.

The next challenge was trying to find out where I was from the aviation map. It appeared that I had landed on a prison-camp runway, which was completely off limits for small aircraft. I knew if that were the case, I would be in big trouble with the FAA.

Soon a woman drove into the parking lot. “You are very lucky,” she said. “The last man that landed here ended up dumping his plane in the pond.” She told me where I was--I was so relieved to find out that I hadn’t landed in prison camp.

I got the plane tied down. Then, exhausted from the test of survival, I sat under a weeping willow tree by the pond and began to cry. I had almost crashed the plane! This was a fear I had never experienced before. But more than that was the feeling that I had never experienced such a close connection with Holy Spirit as I had in this dangerous situation! Because of my spiritual nature, I was able to rise above the whole event and receive the divine love, protection and guidance. Otherwise, I would have died that day in a plane crash.

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.
Denis Waitley

By making the conscious choice of recognizing our spiritual experiences, we can transform our lives and avoid the traps that lead to hardships, unhappiness, and needless agony.

Ninety-nine percent of “Waking Dreams” are overlooked because our attention is trapped in material distraction. However, by recognizing these incredible gifts in our lives it offers us spiritual and physical freedom. It is well worth the effort to consciously stay aligned with and awake to Holy Spirit so we can accept these precious gifts of divine love, guidance, and protection.

Story taken from: "Recognizing Your Spiritual Experiences". To purchase the combination book and journal and free spiritual quote movie download, visit Sandy Paris' website below. Not sold in stores.

Sandy Paris, author of the Dream Reality Book Series, keynote speaker of 36 years, publisher, syndicated magazine columnist and Cambridge Who’s Who. Sandy Paris has been classified as a Spirituality expert with the likes of the Dalai Lama, Wayne Dyer, and Deepak Chopra. She is also a co-author with internationally acclaimed best-selling authors Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Alan Cohen, Richard Carlson, and John Gray. Her books and products reflect the infinite potential in all of us as unlimited spiritual beings. Visit her website for FREE GIFTS http://www.sandyparis.com Contact Sandy at: sandyparis@mac.com for speaking engagements. Copyright © 2007 Sandy Paris. This article may be used in other publications if content is kept in its original form with bio and contact information attached.