Since 2012 I have been aware of a shift in consciousness sweeping the planet.  This shift is helping all of us to reconnect with connection and love for all living things.  Signs of this are everywhere from the recent Hyundai Santa Fe spot suggesting “when did it become rebellion to leave work on time?” or Audi quoting Oscar Wilde to sell cars when they say “Be yourself.  Everyone else is taken”.  I see it in the way that people are changing the way they feel about the quality of our food and the additives and pesticides used to produce it.  When I started using Young Living essential oils in 2010 most people thought I was using snake oil and thought I was delusional.  Now, month after month Young Living is adding about 50,000 new accounts and even CVS is trying to sell essential oils.

Our attitudes and priorities are shifting.  It is a very exciting time to be alive!

One of the best examples of the shift in consciousness, to me, is Pope Francis.  The Catholic Church was mired in the past and consumed by controversy while Pope Benedict was presiding.  I’m not sure anyone could imagine that he would resign and that an outsider, with a far different peace-evoking tone would take his place.

What’s not to love about Pope Francis?  He is humble and kind and is setting an amazing example for humanity.  He refused to live in the Papal mansion or to wear the traditional Prada shoes.  He rides in small, non-descript cars and eats his meals with the Vatican workers.  More than anything though, he teaches a message of inclusion, shared responsibility for the stewardship of our planet’s people and resources, and love above all else.  I believe he is doing more to shift the consciousness of the planet than anyone in recent history.

In honor of his U.S. visit, the following are 12 of my favorite of Pope Francis’ messages.  Begin to imagine a world where everyone is cared for equally, where every life matters and where everyone experiences peace. Contemplate how living these words can change your life and the lives of your brothers and sisters.

In peace & light,

Erin

“A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.”

 

“We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace.”

 

“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge? We shouldn’t marginalize people for this. They must be integrated into society.”

 

“Although the life of a person is in a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God.”

 

“Life is a journey. When we stop, things don’t go right.”

 

“Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities.”

 

“Money has to serve, not to rule.”

 

“Since many of you do not belong to the Catholic Church and others are non-believers, from the bottom of my heart I give this silent blessing to each and every one of you, respecting the conscience of each one of you but knowing that each one of you is a child of God.”

 

“We just cannot worry about ourselves.”

 

“Sometimes negative news does come out, but it is often exaggerated and manipulated to spread scandal. Journalists sometimes risk becoming ill from coprophilia and thus fomenting coprophagia: which is a sin that taints all men and women, that is, the tendency to focus on the negative rather than the positive aspects.”

 

“Even today we raise our hand against our brother… We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves as if it were normal we continue to sow destruction, pain, death. Violence and war lead only to death.”

 

“From my point of view, God is the light that illuminates the darkness, even if it does not dissolve it, and a spark of divine light is within each of us.”