DO OUR BELIEFS PLAY A ROLE IN OUR AWAKENING PROCESS?

The journey of awakening to the truth of who we are, why we’re here, and where we’re going is what I call the soul-awakening process in the Message Art. This process begins the moment we make a conscious or unconscious choice to seek the truth. As we move through it, we pass through different levels of awareness, the highest being the full realization of our oneness with God. In the context of this unique art collection, the word God represents the ever-present, all-powerful, and all-knowing Source of life—the energy of love itself.

When I agreed to receive and paint the fifteen paintings that make up the Message Art collection in the fall of 1999, I had no idea I was about to uncover how few of my beliefs were actually my own. One of the divine insights revealed through this collection is that we are not born with beliefs—we acquire them by repeatedly thinking the same or similar thoughts, whether we’re aware of it or not. In other words, our beliefs are simply the result of our past repetitive thoughts. And because many of these thoughts come from others—parents, teachers, religion, society—it’s likely that much of what we believe isn’t truly ours.

A simple way to check whether your beliefs are your own is to trace them back to their origin. For example, do your beliefs about God and love come from your personal experiences, or did you unknowingly adopt someone else’s beliefs? What about your views on religion, culture, marriage, raising children, or even world conflicts? Have they been shaped by your own lived experiences, or did they form from other people’s repetitive thoughts—beliefs they unknowingly passed down to you?

After journaling with my divine guidance for days on this subject, I was shocked to realize how little of what I believed had actually come from my own experiences. I had unknowingly absorbed other people’s thoughts about nearly everything in my life—especially about God. But even more startling was how difficult it was to let go of those beliefs, despite knowing that my soul-awakening process couldn’t progress until I did.

One night, my guidance reminded me that no matter how long clouds cover the sky, the sun remains unchanged behind them. In that moment, I realized that my old beliefs had been like thick clouds, preventing me from seeing the truth for myself. They had also kept me from experiencing a personal relationship with God—one that was direct, unfiltered, and free from outside influence. And unless I was willing to let go and trust the divine messages I was receiving, I would never fully embrace the truth being revealed to me.

Letting go wasn’t easy. It meant becoming open-minded enough to challenge everything I thought I knew. It also meant being willing to accept that my truth might not align with what most of the people in my life believed. At first, this was unsettling. But as I took that step, my perception of myself and the world around me began to shift in ways I never imagined. Still, I had so many questions.

How could God not be a separate being but rather the sum of all that exists?Did this really mean that everyone—including those society deems “bad”—was ‘a part of’ rather then ‘apart from’ God?And why was I never taught this life-altering truth in church or school?

For nearly fifty years, I had believed that God was a large male figure in the sky, watching, judging, and keeping track of my sins. I had heard so often that I was a sinner that I truly believed my chances of making it to heaven were slim. For years, this belief made me fear God.

The idea that I could have a direct two-way conversation with God—something that was happening to me almost every night—was something I had never thought possible, let alone deserved. And yet, the God I was communicating with was nothing like the one I had been taught about. The God I was experiencing was patient, loving, and understanding. I never once felt judged or condemned during the fourteen years it took to receive, process, and apply the divine messages in the Message Art paintings. No matter how many questions I asked, I always felt surrounded by an all-encompassing presence of love.

One of the first beliefs I had to let go of was the idea that my soul was inside my body, somewhere near my heart. Shifting from the old repetitive thoughts that had formed this belief to the new thoughts God was sending me didn’t happen overnight. But as I asked for guidance, I came to understand something life-changing: I am not a physical being having a spiritual experience—I am a spirit being having a physical experience.

That realization became the catalyst for new thoughts that eventually formed a whole new set of beliefs—ones based on my own experiences rather than those handed down to me. And since then, I’ve never questioned or doubted why the magnificence and grandeur of my soul could never be contained within the dense energy field of my physical body.

So, do our beliefs play a role in our awakening process?

My answer is a resounding YES. My experience with the Message Art has convinced me that our beliefs not only have the power to initiate, slow down, or accelerate this life-altering process—they ultimately determine if, when, and how much our awareness expands. And that expansion is the very reason we are here.

Had I not been willing to release my old beliefs, I would have never discovered, let alone experienced, such a profound and personal relationship with God. Nor would it be my life’s mission today to help others accelerate their own soul-awakening process through The Message Art Study.