The Power of Grace

The Super Human Effect: Stories of the Moment When Everything Changes

by Grace J Power

The moment that everything changed for me happened when I was listening to a sermon at church, and the message was about seeing grace in every moment and in every circumstance. I listened intently and found myself wondering, “What is grace, really?” This question stuck with me. I started to look for grace in every circumstance of my life and since I wasn’t particularly clear on what grace was, I found it difficult to see. That week as I was journaling, I decided to delve into discovering what grace really meant. I started by looking up the definition in the dictionary. There was quite a long definition. I read:

grace   (gr s)

NOUN:

Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion.

A characteristic or quality pleasing for its charm or refinement.

A sense of fitness or propriety.

A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill.

Mercy; clemency.

A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence.

A temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve.

Graces Greek & Roman MythologyThree sister goddesses, known in Greek mythology as Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, who dispense charm and beauty.

gra·cious   (gr sh s)

ADJECTIVE:

Characterized by kindness and warm courtesy.

Characterized by tact and propriety:responded to the insult with gracious humor.

Of a merciful or compassionate nature.

Condescendingly courteous; indulgent.

Characterized by charm or beauty; graceful.

Characterized by elegance and good taste: gracious living.

Archaic Enjoying favor or grace; acceptable or pleasing.

As I was reading about these qualities of ‘grace’ I heard my thoughts say, “I love this word! I want this to be my name!” Then it was like I heard the sound of a bell ‘ding’! That was it! I am going to have Grace as my name. As I thought about this further, I decided it would be my middle name, since I never had a middle name. “MaryAnn Grace Probert. That sounds great!” I thought.

The next day, I called my good friend, Ben and told him that I was so amazed by the word grace that I was going to make it my name. He said, “That’s great! Do you want me to call you Grace?” I quickly thought about this and exclaimed, “Yes!”

Since I changed my mind to using Grace as my first name, I considered, ‘Why not change my whole entire name?’ And that is what I did.

A couple years previous to this, I had been through a divorce and changing my name from MaryAnn Benavides back to MaryAnn Probert felt rather awkward to me. I had been MaryAnn Benavides for four years and considered that it would be my name for the rest of my life. I also liked the name. Benavides means ‘the good life’ and I had considered keeping it. Although, when filling out the divorce documents I decided to go back to my maiden name, MaryAnn Probert which felt foreign to me as well as most of the people in my life. My English teacher in High School always pronounced my last name like the French Canadians, and I decided to pronounce my name with that accent since it gave it a different twist than what I grew up with. Still, I honestly felt a bit awkward about this. It just didn’t seem like ‘me’.

Now that I was inventing a new name for myself, I wanted to have a strong last name and it came to me at church one Sunday. The pastor was recognizing a group of new members to the church, and as he was reading off the names, it occurred to me that I should listen to the last names and see if any of them would fit for my new last name. Immediately after I thought about this, he announced a woman with the last name Powers. I liked it right away, and remember thinking, “That’s it!”

Again, I discussed this with my friend Ben over the phone wondering if I should use Powers or Power. He said, “I like Power best. Like One Power instead of mystical powers.” I trusted my friend’s advice. Then it was onto deciding, middle name?...no middle name?

I had a session with an Intuitive Reader and I asked her about the name change. She suggested looking at the numerology of the amount of letters used in the name.

A couple weeks went by as I pondered about choosing a middle name or not. My boyfriend had a book of gods in his library and I decided to skim through it for name ideas. As I read about various gods, I flipped to the page about Janus. This god intrigued me as I read that he represented the present moment. He had two heads, one facing forward and one facing backward, representing past and future. January is named after Janus since it represents the end of one year and beginning of the next. Since I was practicing living in the present moment, I decided this was the perfect name for me. I also had heard that the number 5 represents change. And each word (Grace Janus Power) has five letters.

With this new name declared, I have felt more like ‘me’ and each day I am living into this new name and seeing grace in every moment.

The State of My Union

For those of you who have been following my journey, you are aware that a year ago I began writing about a defining moment. A moment when everything changes and we gain clarity of our life's purpose.  It comes without warning. It feels right and we have no choice but to set fear aside and act. It is a super human moment that awakens in us a new perception known as unconditional love. I have had my eyes and ears opened to this moment in the lives of so many. Brendon Burchard speaks of the moment when during a near fatal car accident, he asked the questions for the first time: Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter? Brendon committed his life to earning the right to live? Doreen Virtue writes about the moment when during a car-jacking, she felt the presence of an angel. Everything changed and if you have read any of her books since the car-jacking, you know by how much.

When this “moment” arrived for me, I was beside myself with joy at the prospects of starting a new life as an author. I was filled with a spiritual connection and an inspiration to write, for 80-days straight, what would become The Super Human Effect book. I was communicating with spirits from other realms daily and intuitively connecting to the soul’s desires of  many. The healing experiences were also extraordinarily common.  I felt like I had entered heaven while on earth.

Then everything changed… Again!

About six months ago, I lost my ability to connect to spirit. Darkness set in and inspiration could not be accessed. No mystical experiences. No desire to pray. No words. Nothing.  Had I given up my 9-5 job to become a spiritual author only to have all of my “gifts” be taken away. Had I replaced having a job with being Job? The struggles were endless. My ego wanted so badly to hold on to the idea of the new spiritual leader emerging.  The new messenger whose message is simple: Fear will not win. There was only one problem:

I was afraid that fear was winning.

Instead of giving in to the “shoulds” of an author’s life, I chose to have this fear be my curriculum for change. Can I be present and know that God is- regardless of what I experience? Awakening to the moment is when the work begins. For the past six months, I have lived the life of a poor struggling artist who is staring at an empty canvas.

Why am I telling you this instead of shaping your perceptions of me as an expert? Because as you grow more and more into who you really are and follow your dreams, I don't want you to give up even if everything that fueled your desires is temporarily taken away. I have found a deeper connection through letting go of all my roles including the role of a writer.  My message is more important than a career. Fear will not win. No matter what your circumstances look like, your union with all that is can never be severed. It is found in an awareness of present moment, not in ideas of what you think makes you valuable.  You are valuable because you are.

I am writing this while coverage of the fate of Mubarak’s reign plays out in the background. Fear will not win. The protesters will not walk away from their dream.  In our perceived weakness the state of our union is strong.

Dennis Rodriguez

Feel What You Want

Is it possible that these four words hold the key to fulfilling all our dreams and aspirations? Feel what you want.

A year ago, I resigned from an eight-year old management position at a university when most around me hunkered down and rode out the worst recession since the Great Depression. I did so to write a book called The Super Human Effect: My Quest for the Moment When Everything Changes. If my actions seemed irrational, it is because they were. My actions were not guided by a thorough risk assessment or a bullet-proof business plan. My actions were guided by my spiritual heart’s desire. The map to its fulfillment does not reveal an inter-state highway to a large bank account or a stellar book rating on Amazon. The map reveals winding roads of what I am feeling in the present moment. If my map has been hard to read, convoluted and smudgy, it is because it is. My map includes feelings of what I don’t want as much as what I do. My map includes feelings of fear. Fear of losing my house, of losing inspiration and motivation. Fear of simply losing. My map also includes trust in a supportive source that planted my heart's desire, without which I cannot breathe. It includes a joyful awareness of surprising twists and turns that have led to synchronistic encounters, reminding me of perfection in divine timing.

Thankfully feeling what I want is winning out and my book is set to be in stores March 2011.

What is it that you really want? Can you hold the vision in such vivid detail that it actually creates the feelings of what you want right now? What if you consciously chose to feel what you really want in every moment? And what if (and this is the fun part), your external circumstances are waiting for you to choose to feel what you want before showing you the evidence?


"[We] must learn to lay all judgments aside, and ask only what we really want in every circumstance."- A Course in Miracles, Manual for Teachers

Where Is Your Light Source?

When I was in acting school, I had a teacher who would have us create a multi-sensory space using nothing but our voiceless imagination and then see whether the rest of the class can interpret correctly what we created. I would get up on stage and mentally place the position of doors, tables, and other characters in the room. I would imagine distant sounds, pleasant fragrances or unpleasant odors. Once I believed all my senses had been activated and the space brought to life for others to experience, I would end the exercise, like countless actors before me, with a resounding- “Scene”. All eyes would be on my teacher for his anticipated pronouncement.

“Where is your light source?”

“Uh, my what?”

“Where is your light source? How can we see you if you don’t know what makes you be seen? Is it the sunlight? Where is the window? Do you feel the warmth on your back or is it right in front of you slamming you in the face? Come on man, Where is your light source?

“I don’t know”

“Well then you better find out! (he lets out his signature laugh) Next.”

I sat down but I have never stopped trying to find out. Sometimes my light source can be found in the eyes of my children impatiently waiting for me to finish a responsible adult task before commencing tickle time. Sometimes my light source seems light-years away when life’s challenges get too heavy and the drama too thick. And sometimes my light source- what brings me to the present moment and to what’s really important, comes from hearing of the loss of a beloved friend.

I just found out that my teacher James Spruill- The best teacher I ever had (and I have had many), passed away of pancreatic cancer on December 31, 2010.

Jim, I promise to continue to look for my light source. I know you have found yours.

Ramana Maharshi's Super Human Effect Moment

"It was in 1896, about 6 weeks before I left Madurai for good (to go to Tiruvannamalai - Arunachala) that this great change in my life took place. I was sitting alone in a room on the first floor of my uncle's house. I seldom had any sickness and on that day there was nothing wrong with my health, but a sudden violent fear of death overtook me. There was nothing in my state of health to account for it nor was there any urge in me to find out whether there was any account for the fear. I just felt I was going to die and began thinking what to do about it. It did not occur to me to consult a doctor or any elders or friends. I felt I had to solve the problem myself then and there. The shock of the fear of death drove my mind inwards and I said to myself mentally, without actually framing the words: 'Now death has come; what does it mean? What is it that is dying? This body dies.' And at once I dramatised the occurrence of death. I lay with my limbs stretched out still as though rigor mortis has set in, and imitated a corpse so as to give greater reality to the enquiry. I held my breath and kept my lips tightly closed so that no sound could escape, and that neither the word 'I' nor any word could be uttered. 'Well then,' I said to myself, 'this body is dead. It will be carried stiff to the burning ground and there burn and reduced to ashes. But with the death of the body, am I dead? Is the body I? It is silent and inert, but I feel the full force of my personality and even the voice of I within me, apart from it. So I am the Spirit transcending the body. The body dies but the spirit transcending it cannot be touched by death. That means I am the deathless Spirit.' All this was not dull thought; it flashed through me vividly as living truths which I perceived directly almost without thought process. I was something real, the only real thing about my present state, and all the conscious activity connected with the body was centered on that I. From that moment onwards, the I or Self focused attention on itself by a powerful fascination. Fear of death vanished once and for all. The ego was lost in the flood of Self-awareness. Absorption in the Self continued unbroken from that time. Other thought might come and go like the various notes of music, but the I continued like the fundamental sruti [that which is heard] note which underlies and blends with all other notes.

-Sri Ramana Maharshi's Life- http://bhagavan-ramana.org/sriramanaslife.html

Choose Again

Three weeks ago I found out that DC Comics and Warner Brothers both denied my request to use “Superman” in the title of my book or to use any quotes from the movie. For those of you that have read some of my manuscript, you know the importance I have placed on the Superman Motif. Is it a deal breaker? Heaven’s no. It was for a few weeks however. I was devastated by the news that The Superman Effect would not be a reality. I would be lying to you if I said that I just got back up and created a new reality. Manifestation is hard work and sometimes we are thrown a left hook that knocks us down for the count. Getting back up means I have faith that there is a purpose for everything that happens and that even if every sign points to a dream as an illusion, I choose to trust that the dream seed is the only reality. I decided to get back up and call my book The Super Human Effect: My Quest for the Moment When Everything Changes. I see my book as a testament to connecting to who we are by fully honoring our humanity instead of seeing it as a tragic mistake. My book is not about a man but about a human being who chooses to follow his heart no matter what reality looks like.


In March, you will have the opportunity to read a book about your life too. One of the greatest obstacles to living our life’s calling is the belief that we are alone in the world. That our experiences are unique and that no one can relate to our depth of confusion and despair. We doubt whether there really is a supportive universe that “gets us”. We ask the ultimate question at the heart of our sense of separation: “What is wrong with me?” Our work begins when a specific answer is revealed: “Nothing is wrong with you.” A flood of judgments come our way and every moment becomes an opportunity to deliberately choose acceptance or resistance. The Super Human Effect is about the power of free will to reveal our destiny. When the moment arrives where you become aware that “nothing is wrong with you”, what follows is a shift in perception from doubt to certainty. What is born is the free will to make one choice: join the rest of creation in becoming an instrument of divine grace. What is left behind is the struggle perpetuated by a state of resistance to what we think, feel, do and are.

If you are not enjoying the present moment, ask yourself: “What am I resisting?” In the answer lies your unique path to freedom.

So The Superman Effect will not be. That’s okay. I’ll choose again.

Is There Another Way?

Are we on earth to earn our right to be on earth? Can our value be increased by what we learn, what we believe, how we behave, how many degrees we have, how much money we make or how many people hold us in esteem?

Answering these questions lie at the heart of my confusion and struggle. I find every moment as an opportunity to accept or reject what is.

Is it possible to accept ourselves as being enough just as we are?

So often I hear from people in my practice who are not okay with their lack of motivation. “Dennis, I really want to make this happen but I don’t have a strong enough “why””. “Dennis, I don’t know what is wrong with me. Why can’t I push myself to follow through?”

At a time when our net worth determines our self-worth, it is understandable that any sign we may not have what it takes to do more and be more is amplified with superhuman strength. It takes a great deal of energy to confirm the “little man” inside us. Is it any wonder we feel unmotivated and exhausted?

What if there is another way? What if we fully believed that our value is set at its highest level the moment we are born and there is nothing we can do to diminish or increase it in the eyes of the ultimate reality? What if chasing desires outside of the present moment is an illusion and what we awaken to is the realization that not just is the moment perfect but so are we?

I hold a vision of a life that is not influenced by the vacillations of opinions and judgments, rather only sees the light behind the mask. The light of pure love is in all of us. We were born with this light. We are this light and all that stands between us and who we truly are is acceptance.

Here is an excerpt from the preface of A Course in Miracles. I see it as a moment that was unexpected, divinely inspired and that changed everything. I see it as The Super Human Effect.

"Psychologist, educator, conservative in theory and atheistic in belief. I was working in a prestigious and highly academic setting. And then something happened that triggered a chain of events I could never have predicted. The head of my department unexpectedly announced that he was tired of the angry and aggressive feelings our attitudes reflected, and concluded that there must be another way. As if on cue, I agreed to help him find it. Apparently this Course is the other way."- A Course in Miracles