Since publishing her very first book, “A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles,” in 1992, Marianne Williamson captured the hearts, minds and spirits of millions around the world.

Elevated Existence honored Williamson with its 2016 Elevated Existence Spiritual Service Award, given to one individual every year who has dedicated their life to spreading the gift of spirituality and uplifting the consciousness of others.

“I am honored by this award, and I appreciate your acknowledgement,” Williamson said.

During the interview for the December 2016 Issue of Elevated Existence Magazine, (which is an interactive, digital issue and includes an EXCLUSIVE Skype video interview with Williamson), she spoke about “A Course in Miracles” as it relates to relationships, anxiety, depression, politics and more, and offered advice to those who were not happy with the recent Presidential Election results.

“From “A Course in Miracles’” perspective, fear is to love what darkness is to light. Where there is love, there cannot be fear. But the love that is the transformative elixir that delivers us to a miraculous field of infinite possibility is not always an easy love. It is not just pouring pink paint over anything,” she told Elevated Existence in the December 2016 Issue cover story.

“This is a very disturbing moment in American history, and grown-ups are concerned. So the love I believe that replaces our fear is love for our country, love for our democracy… it takes a little maturity to hold the juxtaposition we need to hold now. On one hand we had an election, and unless it’s proven that that election was not fair, we have democratically elected our new president elect named Donald Trump. And the democratic process is to be respected.”

At this time, Williamson believes we must all be engaged in what is happening in our government, including reading the newspaper and seeing where we can get involved in making a difference.

“I think this is the time to be really reading. Watching the news is extremely important right now because the president elect is appointing people,” she shared. “A person who is so far on the transition team for environmental issues is seeking to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency. Our new president thinks climate change is a hoax. Don’t look away from that if you disagree with him, we didn’t elect a king. This is how America works. So look at the issues you care about.”

She continued: “We all want to support him. He is democratically elected. But in addition to that, we want to pray that the angels of his better nature arise and prevail here. However, when see things that disturb us, that are way too similar to some of the worst conjectures in human history, it is our moral responsibility to speak up.”

Williamson also noted many in the spiritual community shy away from the news and politics, looking at them as negative and toxic, but she pointed out the importance of addressing the suffering of others and taking a stand where it is necessary. In order to do this, we need to stay informed, and we need to take action when guided.

“Those of us who are spiritual, its kind of this faux, artificial spirituality that’s out there like “No, no, no, politics is too toxic.” There is no deep, spiritual or religious path out there, which gives any of us a pass on addressing the suffering of other sentient beings — whether it’s suffering of human beings, the suffering of the earth, or suffering of the animals. If you see a very powerful force that moves in the direction of increasing that suffering, then it is absolutely your spiritual as well as your civic responsibility to do what you can to change that trajectory.”

She continued: “A woman I once knew used to say, ‘You need to put feet to your prayers.’ You pray, and… The highest prayer is ‘Dear God use me.’ God cannot do for us what he cannot do through us. So you can’t pray and say, ‘Dear God, fix all this,’ but don’t sign up to be the vessels through which he can operate . . . We got into this mess in this country because too many people were disengaged. The answer is not to be disengaged further. And this prevalent disengagement on a political level within the spiritual community, this idea that if I just drink green juice, and I just meditate and I just go to yoga, that’s enough.

“Actually, it’s a lot of it, but it is not of itself everything because the highest level of prayer is ‘where would you have me go, what would you have me do, what would you have me say and to whom?’ In a time like this, it’s very unlikely that God is going to say, ‘Oh, just sit there.’”

For more from this interview with Williamson, see the December 2016 Issue of Elevated Existence Magazine, and for more on Marianne Williamson, visit www.marianne.com.