United Prayers Across America
A National Prayer Project to Awaken the Sleeping Giant

Conference Call #26

Spiritual Freedom

Lucia LaBarre

June 12, 2006

Good evening, everyone! It is an honor and privilege to speak to all of you tonight. I have been happy to be part of this prayer project since it started on December 21, 2005.

Here is the quote I selected for tonight:

My fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country….My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
35th President of the United States, 1961-1963

Tonight, I wish to speak about spiritual freedom in this country, as one of the many freedoms this nation has been blessed with. While many here may take it for granted, some in other nations are fighting and dying every day for this freedom. Have you ever thought about what it would be like if America did not allow people to worship, pray, or even talk about their spiritual beliefs? What would it be like if we couldn’t have the United Prayers Across America teleconferences? What if you were not allowed to speak to others or to gather in public to share your spiritual beliefs?

I would like to be silent for just a few moments so we all can think about what the nation would be like if we were not permitted this freedom (10 seconds of silence).

Did many of you feel fear? Or was it anger? Were you frustrated? Maybe some of you felt an emptiness or loneliness. This is what it is like in many countries around the world. When my husband, my daughter, and I went to Russia in February, we managed to call the United Prayers Across America teleconference from there. However, we made the call with much fear. Although Russia has a somewhat democratic society, spiritual freedom is severely limited in this country. Many people are guarded when they speak and frightened to say what is on their minds. We were taking a risk by calling into this teleconference from Moscow because the government monitors the telephone and computer lines.

Russia is not the only country to monitor their citizens in order to limit their freedom. My husband told me a story about an American who went to Hong Kong on a business trip and went to one of the internet cafés. He had heard that the Chinese government did not tolerate any type of communication in which "freedom" is the subject, but he decided to test this for himself. He typed in the word "freedom" and the word "God" and hit search. Within five minutes, there were sirens and the Chinese police had him in custody asking him questions.

Yesterday, I heard a speech by a man who was a Christian from Jerusalem, Israel. He told us that many Christians in Jerusalem are leaving the area for two reasons: the lack of Christian tourism and changes under the new government in that region. The Hamas organization holds much power in Jerusalem. Many Christian churches are closing, and choices for spiritual worship may be limited, if not eliminated.

As I was typing this talk on the computer today, I mistyped the word "freedom." When I did, I saw the letters "free" and the letters "dom." I realized that "dom" looked like a Latin word, so I looked up its meaning on the Internet. Do you know what "dom" means in Latin? It is short for Deo Optimo Maximo, which is Latin for "belonging to God." The words "free" and "dom" together form the word, "freedom," and the creation of this word was no accident. Freedom is what God intended for all of creation.

Freedom is surely one of the primary reasons why God wants us to continue the spiritual work we are all doing. God wants freedom for all, not just some. Now, many of you may be questioning if what you are doing is enough. The answer to that question lies in your heart. Continue what you are doing, do more, or change, until you get to a place of peace in your heart. It is then that you are doing enough.

Many of you may have heard the following, based on a story by Loren Eisley:

I awoke early, as I often did, just before sunrise to walk by the ocean's edge and greet the new day. As I moved through the misty dawn, I focused on a faint, far away motion. I saw a youth, bending and reaching and flailing arms, dancing on the beach, no doubt in celebration of the perfect day soon to begin.

As I approached, I sadly realized that the youth was not dancing to the day, but rather bending to sift through the debris left by the night's tide, stopping now and then to pick up a starfish and then standing, to heave it back into the sea. I asked the youth the purpose of the effort. "The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves," the youth replied. "When the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back to the sea."

As the youth explained, I surveyed the vast expanse of beach, stretching in both directions beyond my sight. Starfish littered the shore in numbers beyond calculation. The hopelessness of the youth's plan became clear to me and I countered, "But there are more starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference."

The youth paused briefly to consider my words, bent to pick up a starfish and threw it as far as possible. Turning to me he simply said, "I made a difference to that one."

I left the boy and went home, deep in thought of what the boy had said. I returned to the beach and spent the rest of the day helping the boy throw starfish into the sea."

Prayer is but one of the many tools we can use to make a difference not only in our life but also in other lives as well. We can make a difference, one starfish at a time. Spiritual freedom is the essence of God’s will for us. There are many pathways to reach God, but without spiritual freedom the choices are fewer, and the journey is much longer and more difficult.

So, continue to pray for the spiritual awakening of others, and for spiritual freedom, in the nation and in the world. By doing this, you will awaken the sleeping giant within yourself.

Lucia LaBarre has a bachelor’s degree in engineering, and she worked for twelve years in corporate management before deciding it was no longer what she wanted to do in life. She now works part-time as an electrologist so that she can have more time to spend with her wonderful husband and beautiful four-year-old daughter. Lucia says, "God has given me the opportunity to obtain the necessary skills and earthly knowledge that will be used for spiritual service work in the future."

Lucia is a medium who works with Mother Mary and other higher-evolved spirits. Ever since she can remember, she has had the ability to "know" things without knowing how she knew them. In her early thirties, Lucia came to understand that others in the spirit world were communicating with her. She has been told that now is the time to use this gift to help others.

For this reason, Lucia founded an organization called Light Around the World. She is very much interested, as is Philip, in enlightening others and bringing a spiritual awakening to as many people as possible throughout the world. Lucia hopes to accomplish this by developing prayer groups, meditation groups, reading sessions, conferences, retreats and workshops.