As I look around the country and visit bookstores, I am encouraged by the amount of information available for adults on how to re-connect consciously to SOURCE. We are all blessed by the countless souls who are contributing to this spiritual renaissance. Gently, we are encouraged to sweep away old ideas of SELF to embrace new and wonderful ideas of life here on earth. No room for the victim consciousness in this new paradigm. We are co-creators with SPIRIT through our conscious choice of thoughts and feelings.

It’s the same idea I saw over twenty years ago - relationship with our own divinity. As the one drop in the Infinite Ocean of All-Good, we are in a LOVE relationship with that Infinite Ocean. This natural love-bond between CREATOR and CREATION (us) is the intimacy we all desire and seem to look everywhere else to find. When we, as a society, develop our SPIRITUALITY, we naturally aid our children to do the same. As we work with the laws of cause and effect, understanding that our consciousness IS the CAUSE that produces the experiences of our lives, we naturally show our children how to work in that partnership. We are then the ideal models for our children. We are not perfect parents and teachers, but we understand and demonstrate the PERFECTION of cosmic law and DIVINE LOVE.

A great Master told us there were only two great commandments. Let’s look at these as guidelines for ourselves and our children:

To LOVE GOD (SOURCE-LIFE-SPIRIT-GOOD) FIRST with every bit of energy we have.

And who is this GOD but our REAL SELVES? This idea has profound implications. What if we really put ourselves first – before our spouse, before our children? What would it look like? What if we Honored ourselves each day as Divine Beings of ALL-GOOD? How would that be lived on a daily basis? Yes, we would still have to put the trash out on Tuesday mornings, we’d still have to vacuum and dust and go off to work each day (wherever that may be), but this shift in attitude would have a magnificent effect on our children. We all know how our children catch EVERYTHING we do and say. In treating ourselves with unconditional love, we model the first commandment for our children, and give them the GREATEST EXAMPLE to guide them for the rest of their lives.

To LOVE OTHERS with this same LOVE.

Children are the ultimate lovers. The other day I was keeping an eye on my Godchild (19 months) and I marveled at the way she greeted her mother when mom came to pick her up. Her entire little being expressed such a DIVINE LOVE in the way she responded to mom, that I KNEW I was witnessing the only REALITY of any human relationship, whether that is our experience or not. We DO really love each other immensely, though in our confusion and fears it may look very different.

During those first years of teaching I had a morning ritual. Right before I left for school, as I was putting on some make-up, I would slip an 8-track cassette into my portable tape player (I’m not dating myself, am I?) and blared my favorite song. This was way before Whitney Houston sung it. I believe George Benson originally recorded it:

I would fly out of my house looking forward to seeing how SPIRIT would guide me that day in the outpicturing of Itself. It didn’t matter how I felt. As soon as I opened the classroom door, the outpouring of Spirit flooded me with inspiration on the faces of those children. And always it was to remind me to speak to the children about how PROFOUNDLY they were LOVED by GOD and how this GOOD (GOD) was within them. We prayed (talked to God) about everything. People would come into the classroom with specific prayer requests for the children. What JOY we all shared in being co-creators with SOURCE!

This LOVE has now led me into the development of a new program for the children of the Millennium. It’s called The Masters’ Classroom! In a fun setting, children are guided by two teen-age Masters to remember that they are partners with a "Greater Idea of GOOD." They have the INNER POWER to choose what they wish to experience each day, by thinking positive thoughts about themselves and their world. The foundational lessons are presented in the first video in a series - "It’s Time!" and in the Apprentice Workbook that goes along with it.

At one point in the video, Lady Master Christina tells the children that in order to become a Master, it takes determination, willingness and desire to participate with the lessons they are learning. Spirituality must be practiced as a daily idea for our children to really absorb all its profound delights. As I think back to when I first made the decision to walk the spiritual path, I know that it has been my personal dedication to this ideal that has moved me forward. The many times I wanted to sit and feel sorry for myself were vanished away when I realized that I am forever being guided into a better idea of life (no matter what it looks like). The only person that can change my life for the better is the one staring at me in the mirror.

December 31, 1999...what now? What new possibilities can you see for yourselves and your children? The greatest possibility lies within YOU. And discovering this will be the greatest gift you can ever give your children. TALK to your children about your path. Share with them the discoveries of SELF you make each day. Set up daily rituals. Pray together. Laugh together. Read together. Watch The Masters’ Classroom together! CREATE SACRED TIME WITH YOUR CHILDREN because you LOVE YOURSELF ENOUGH to share the TREASURE YOU HAVE FOUND WITHIN YOU, WITH THE TREASURE YOU HAVE AROUND YOU -YOUR CHILDREN.

You can find out more about the Masters’ Classroom program and order the video and workbook at http://www.themastersclassroom.com

Barbara Ann Rossi holds a B.S. in Early Childhood Education and is a certified Elementary School teacher who has successfully taught Pre-School, Elementary and Junior High. She has worked with babies in an infant nursery and with teens in retreat programs, and has created and supervised a neighborhood home school, grades 2-6.

Beyond the classroom, Barbara has coached girls' and boys' sports teams, directed and produced school plays, and developed and run after-school programs. She has also written and implemented curriculum in various schools, including Sunday Schools, and has worked as a camp counselor/director.

Barbara is presently the Director of the Junior School Program, a member of the Board of Trustees at the Center for Creative Living in Princeton, New Jersey, and the Northeast Regional Youth Director/Trainer for Religious Science International. She is currently teaching a monthly Parenting Class emphasizing Spiritual Principles and creating new materials for The Masters' Classroom!