Early beginnings

Joan Cartwright, M.A.

Spirit called me from the tender age of five. My next door neighbor, Diane, went to St. Clement Pope Catholic Church, with her family, every Sunday. She attended parochial school and persuaded her mother to interest my mother in letting me join them at Church. I loved it. I loved the high dome of the church, the glistening gold chalices and trim on the magnificent statues. And the choir! Oh, the choir really caught my fancy.

Dancing was my joy, since I was four. Mommy enrolled me in Bernice Johnson's Dancing School and saw to it that I was at every class on time, by dropping me off at Mrs. Johnson's house on her way to work. Budd Johnson, her husband, was a tenor  saxophone player. His studio in the basement was my favorite place. I went from listening to Budd play to dancing with Bernice. Those were the earliest days of my affair with music and the arts.

So, when I attended Church, the choir enrapt me in joyous song. The Latin didn't stifle my enthusiasm in the least. The pipe organ erased any doubt in my mind that the loft, high above the congregation, held my most cherished treasure -  Music of the spheres!

The smoke from the canister that held the incense for Benediction was the next thing I loved. That smell stayed in my nostrils well past the sweet scent of freshly baked goods that we indulged in every Sunday morning at the bakery on Rockaway Boulevard, a block from St. Clement's.

Spirit drove my Mother to enroll me into Catholic School so that I could better learn the fundamentals, reading, writing and arithmetic. I agree that I got a wonderful education. My writing skills were honed in that grammar school so that, by the time I was ready for high school, I'd mastered the English language and won a scholarship to Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.

At Bishop's I too excelled with the prodding of my Mother whose education ethic was exceedingly strong. A Virgo, Charlotte Galloway Cartwright was a stickler for dotted i's and crossed t's. She was the Mother who signed every report card and homework assignment. She didn't "take tea for fever." You did your homework or else you suffered the wrath of Charlotte. And it was Spirit that made me a conscientious student. The Spirit of Charlotte G.

Mom, a legal secretary, was promoted to the secretary to the Assistant Director of the Veteran's Administration in Manhattan. She was a WAC during World War II, where she met my father, a railway postal clerk. She pushed Dad to get a bachelor's degree to match her own from Hunter College. They held firm hands on me to assure my being well educated. They sacrificed to pay for my education and it was Spirit that guided them to enroll me in Catholic School.

Laughter is the serum I dispense to those in my outer realm. Communication, confirmation and participation are the gifts I give and receive from my associates on the Inner Plane. My Earthly monad consists of:

Marco   Bess   Omian
Mimi   Michael   Rhonda
Sandra   Amanye   Juliette
Judy  Joanne   Aretta   Joan

Spirit abides with me. When I forget my Divinity, Spirit taps me on the shoulder and reminds me not to forget WHO I am! I AM the All, the Knower and the Doer. I AM part of the Whole and can never be separate from It. I AM a child of the Universe and the Light of the Universe lives in my Heart. I am responsible to remember My Beloved I AM Presence at every waking moment. There is nothing outside of my relationship with my Higher Self except when I forget WHO I am!

There have been many days of forgetting in the past fifty-two years. There has been stress, depression, doubt, misery, terror, unhappiness, and discomfort, all because I was asleep. However, once I was awakened fully by the books I read that were channeled by Ascended Masters like Jesus, St. Germain, Dwal Khul (through Alice Bailey), Avatar, Sai Baba, Michael the Archangel, the Seven Mighty Elohim - Purity, Peace, Hercules and others, I was awake enough to remember on a daily basis. Now, my Spirit, My Beloved Presence refuses to forget. It awakens me every morning with the Kiss of Life. It assures me that nothing bad can ever happen to me. It congratulates me on becoming WHO I am!

And there are infinite vistas that I have yet to see. There are many precious moments I'll have before I melt into the ONE, until I'm called HOME to the OM, the Silence, and the LIGHT! Remember: I AM a Mighty Presence in the Universe.

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AFFIRMATION

I call on My Mighty I AM Presence to supply My Body with any and all things necessary to communicate what My Beloved Presence deems necessary. I offer to My Mighty I AM Presence all of my activities, all of my Desires, all of my accomplishments and dreams of things to come to past. I willingly accept the blessing of My Beloved I AM Presence so that I may fulfill the purpose of My Body here in this existence.

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