"Build It and They Will Come"
Mary Regnier
Sunday, January 23rd 2005

Yes, this really is about you / us / now! Is it possible? You Bet! God has a plan for you. And it isn’t the puny little plan that you are working from now. Most of us have plans for our lives that seem so ordinary, so mundane. What if there was a call within each one of us to a Greater Plan…it feels impossible. You can’t even imagine getting from the ordinary to this Extraordinary Dream, the Greater Plan.

Do you remember four weeks ago, when Jane Cavanaugh challenged us all to move from “our puny dream for ourselves” to a Bigger, more heartfelt, purposeful Dream that Spirit has in store for us? Believe it or not, the Good News is already here! We already know what to do; we each have a part to play in this Very Big Picture, so be ready to go on a journey with me that will capture your heart, imagination, and willingness to be more excited than ever to launch your heart’s desire—thriving in the days to come.

A bit about my Irish Catholic background: I am one of five children born in Detroit, Michigan, educated in parochial schools for 16 years. Pretty traditional, but a strong foundation of values, love, and showing me the way to a Christian life. And so I stepped into the model of living that was shown to me—right out of St. Mary’s of Notre Dame. I launched my career as “Betty Crocker” writing cookbooks, following that tradition of service. My fabulous career lasted 14 months, and then came the big step—marrying a magnificent Catholic man, and then 5 children emerged in 7 years. Moving right along!

Would you believe me if I told you that as a Mom of these five exquisite children that God brought through me, that as I held each one of them in my arms for the very first time I knew that they knew about their Soul’s journey coming in? All we had to do was nurture, educate, and support their innate choices that were perfectly designed for them and they would find their way.

What a belief to have as a woman! It has served me so well for 44 years now as my children are launched, each on their own magnificent paths. And so they duplicated the creation process and nine out-of-this-world grandchildren have shown up so for. Talk about the Spirit of God incarnating! Check this group out—not a shy one in the bunch! But, then again, we are very Irish and Catholic.

Now, this doesn’t sound like a puny dream to me! I was in the midst of SO much life, so many to serve. And we were doing it so well… but somehow I got lost in all of that service. Where did the real Mary go? Where was my life in all of this?

Now comes what sounds like a crash course. I don’t ever remember making an agreement with God that everything I stood for in life could come into my life so quickly, and then be gone with the death of two of our sons and a divorce. And in the meantime, my step into my ways of hiding and killing the pain through the disease of alcoholism became a nightmare! It’s the way my mother died. Was I going to follow her path? In my dying process of giving up in life and having nothing left to give, I did [physically] die and entered the Life Light. Great place to be—no pain there!

In my near-death experience 25 years ago, I was asked by these Light Beings to go back with a New Mission about how life could really be. I was shown in the Light where Humanity was in their evolution and where we would be called in the days to come. This is a graphic that I was shown of where Humanity has been for decades, what symptoms have shown up that are delaying us, and where we are being called to in the days to come. How or why I said yes to that mission remains a mystery to me each day. 25 years of one-day-at-a-time…no logic here!

Let me tell you, when I returned to my body, I had NO clues what all of this meant, nor did I care. My life had fallen apart through divorce, alcoholism, and the death of two sons. I can assure you, I had no desire to be on Planet Earth, let alone lead the way with this new information! My instructions were, “Go within, Mary, listen and go where you are called.”

And so the journey to rural America. Quite a challenge for this Irish Catholic girl from Detroit! What could I do but go and interview hundreds of youth as a speaker / consultant and ask:

• “What is working in your life?”
• “What is NOT working in your life?“
• And most importantly: “What do you want instead?”

In the great Scheme of listening to the inner call from Spirit, I was led to Harry Weilage, director fo Community Education in Marshall, Minnesota. Both of us being Visionaries and Futurists to the New Possibilities of how life could be for those students, families, even workers who were labeled “at risk” and barely surviving their lives, we invited the Gatekeepers of children, families, 23 social service organizations, educators, and parents to join us in 1988. We moved all of them to a Greater Vision based on the wisdom of children surveyed by the Search Institute and brought all of their wisdom forward.

A new model was created—a vision and plan of thriving in the 21st century. In this revolutionary model no-one was labeled and anyone who chose to learn to thrive was invited to participate. Partnerships were formed, monies were directed to a New Thriving model, and excitement flourished! Through collaboration, monies for services that had been duplicated were redirected to other resources. This Thriving model encompassed new Life Skills and ongoing support for this Brilliant way to live. Believe it or not, businesses saw that by investing in Life Skills for children and families, it changed the economy in the town!

This model of cooperation that started with 23 organizations in 1988 today has 56 joining in one large vision: collaborating monies and skills to launch the children who are their (and our) future as effective citizens. Schwan’s funds the program to this day.

There is no labeling in this model. We believe that we are all innately brilliant, and that when given tools and opportunities for learning that match our style and needs, and ongoing support, this allows all of our unique Brilliance to emerge and be contributed.

There is more than enough money for all of this to work. Trust me when I tell you that there are duplications of services everywhere, especially in designating money to our “broken-ness,” our labels, and our dependencies. This is the puny story of surviving.

I challenge you both individually and as St. Joan of Arc members to shift our focus to Thriving. Read Joel Barker’s book Paradigm Shift today. WE are the Pathfinders, the pioneers of the New World to come.

Today, what if?

What if many of our youth are carrying the wisdom of how to create a better, more healthy world for all peoples to thrive in?

What if we are Gatekeepers at St. Joan of Arc, where we invite each man, woman, and child to truly Show up, Sign Up, Commit to their True Purpose or Calling or whatever term makes sense to you? We all have been called. If we go deep within, we can feel, hear, and yearn for our own voice to be heard to make that difference.

What if you already have a life-long learning community here today? What if they do care to hear about The Dream of Your Life and what your contribution is? And better yet, they care to Celebrate you?

I’m not 99% Irish for no reason. When I asked Spirit, “Why have you called such a broken woman as myself to do this work?” the words to me were, “You have been chosen. I will lift you up from your broken-ness. Your suffering allows you to know Humanity’s pain. Go to them. Invite them to bring their broken-ness to Me. Let go of your suffering. Come to Me, Trust Me. You are My child and I promise you My Kingdom. Go back to your Dream. Claim it! Surrender to it! Listen. You are an Important Player in My Plan. It is time. Show up. Sign in—your part is needed!”

Brilliant Living is launching the University of Life-Long Living & Learning. We want you to join us here in your community to invite all persons who are ready to reconnect to their Bigger Dream—the one that fills you up. The curriculum supports all levels of life: physical, mental, social, emotional, financial, and spiritual. We are in the back of the church today ready to answer your questions, connect, and create with you. We want to hear, co-create, and implement with you.

Each of us is a Key player in the Greater Plan. We are all called. It’s time for your voice, your contribution. We are the Pathfinders of the New World to come.

What you can do:

1. Listen to the children and young adults; really, truly listen to their wisdom. They know what they need in this world. The faster we help them create it the faster we all benefit.
2. Look beyond the labels we so easily put on people. Every person is far more than a label and has gifts and talents to contribute. Every person is part of God’s Plan. Honor the Best in every person you meet.
3. Look for ways to collaborate and create win-win solutions for any problem. Be creative! Think upside-down and backwards. Empower people and they will contribute in ways that surprise you.