Straight Line Connection

  The full text as prepared for the Sunday, December 2, 2012 message:
  The seasons, as they come and go, give us pause to think about the mystery of transformation.

As we move from summer to fall, fall to winter, winter to spring, we see that life is continues to unfold.  In other parts of nature we see this transformation as well.

          Think about the little frog and where it had its beginnings.  It begins as a little egg.  In the fullness of time, that little egg will burst forth and a tadpole will appear.

          Have you ever gone to a pond and watched the little tadpoles.  When I was young I couldn’t fathom that a tadpole that looked like a little fish would grow legs and walk, so to speak.  

          The same mystery of transformation unfolds in the butterfly.  A little butterfly begins as an egg.  Then, out of the egg comes a little wiggly thing that is furry and has lots of legs – we call it a caterpillar.  Then, when it feels an inner push, it will make a chrysalis around itself.  Out of that chrysalis will emerge a winged creature that flies.

          One thing swims and then walks. Another walks and then flies.  Those are astounding transformations!

          What about us?  What about our transformation? Can we transform our relationship with ourselves from human to divine/

  We may call ourselves “just a human being.”  Then the day comes when we want the experience of our life to be different from what it has been. 

We think to ourselves in some form or another, “There must be a better way,” and so begins our search for transformation.

For there to be any real change we eventually come to the understanding – whether we are aware of this particular piece of scripture, or not, that we must change the way we think about the world.

The scripture I am referring to is Romans 12:2, “Do not be transformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is the good and acceptable and perfect.”

Whether we are consciously aware that we must change the way we see the world, or all we know is that there must be a better way and we begin to change our current ways, we kind of go though several layers of thought:

(1) We say, “I’m not just a human being.  I’m a being with the Creators potential.”  We begin to see the child of God seed unfolding.

(2) Then the day comes when we think of ourselves as more than just a weak person with potential – we think of ourselves as a child of God, just as Jesus said we were.

Getting to the point where we are able to integrate the human and the divine our hardest task will be to dissolve the critical, crippling, self-negativity that may be trapping us; keeping us bound to the idea that we were only human.

Don Colbert, M.D. author of Deadly Emotions: Understand the Mind-Body-Spirit Connection That Can Heal or Destroy You, writes "I've worked with countless people who have discovered that once they made a sincere effort to tackle their dysfunctional thought patterns, they had fewer bouts of depression, anxiety, anger, grief, shame, jealousy, and all other toxic emotions. It isn't difficult to replace lies with God's truth. It just takes intentional and consistent effort.” And a few sentences later he references a way out, “Jesus promised, "If you abide in my Word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:31-32)."”

What are some of the lies we tell ourselves?

1.     I’m a loser

2.     Someone else ought to take care of me

3.     I need to protect myself

4.     I know I’m right

5.     I’ll never get what I want

6.     I’ll start tomorrow

7.     I will be happy when/if…

8.     It’s all their fault

9.     I’ll try

10.                        Making a mistake will ruin my life

When we see the world “backwards” we think that what our five physical senses pick up influences our thoughts.  Eventually you’ll come to see that is backwards… because by changing your thoughts patterns you change your experience of what’s “out there.” 

These five physical senses are like gates through which thought flows. You might say that there are five “gates” of thought.  They would be the five senses with the eyes and ears being the most dominant gates.

What flows out through the gates from the mind is exactly what flows back in through the gate to our awareness.  We have to guard these gates carefully 24/7/365 (or in the case of 2012, 366), and it is vital to remember that what is coming in through those gates is a product of our thinking… is a mirror of what flowed out from the mind.  That’s mind is the birthplace of all experience.

John 8:31-32 counsels us, “If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

But what if you’re stuck in one or more of those ten ways we lie to ourselves (or any way other than those 10)… and you think that God; that applying the truth, could never straighten out my life?  If you think you can’t change, watch this.

I would like three volunteers to help me demonstrate a point.

Here I have several strands of wire.  The wire can be bent into just about any shape.  Imagine if you will that this piece of wire is your conscious awareness of God.  You are at one end and God is at the other.  Your connection together is straight and uncomplicated; clear; no kinks, no nasty twists or turns.  Your connection is straight and direct.

In this metaphor, you are responsible for keeping the lines of connection straight, clear and open.  God is constantly communicating to you and it’s up to you to keep the path unimpeded… which you can do if you don’t place any barriers in the way… any kinks, twists turns, etc. (guilt, fear, shame, projection, unwillingness to listen, etc.)

I’m going to ask my assistants to twist and shape the wire to symbolize what they think a life outside of the awareness of the power and presence of God might look like.

Let’s remember John, “…know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

(At this point in the service I asked the volunteers to put their twisted wires into a pan of heated water and the wires immediately straightened out.  I used a wire called Nitnol which is an alloy comprised of nickel and titanium. One of its properties is that it returns to its original shape once its heated – in this case by being placed in a Pyrex dish of heated water placed on an overhead projector so everyone could first see the twisted wires and then see them “magically” become straight.)

When we bathe ourselves in truth, when we bathe ourselves in thinking with God, when we bathe ourselves in extending love through those gates of which we are in charge, when we bathe ourselves thinking that which we know (trust) to be, as Paul put it, the, “good acceptable and perfect,” the awareness of our connection with God in our life will have as Dr. Colbert wrote, “fewer bouts of depression, anxiety, anger, grief, shame, jealousy, and all other toxic emotions. It isn't difficult to replace lies with God's truth. It just takes intentional and consistent effort” and passion.
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"But-Head"

The full text as prepared for the Sunday, November 18, 2012 message:

Please don’t take this the wrong way.  I have to ask, “How big is your “but?””

The “but” I’m talking about is your, “Yeah, I know, but…” followed by a reason why some good idea (aka application of spiritual principle) won’t work for them.  “But… thinking” is what keeps us stuck in our experience.

I hear, “yeah, but…” a lot as the reason why people aren’t willing to choose a different path of thinking that will lead them away from the experiences that come with their entrenched habits.

“But thinking” is a choice that keeps us stuck.  Is being a “but-head” working for you? :o)

Sometimes I hear from people that it’s too late for me to change… too late to attain any spiritual growth.

If you think it’s too late to attain any real spiritual growth, listen up, this talk today is for you.

Here is a quote attributed to Tolly Burkan, who popularized fire-walking in the 1970’s: “A stone may have been lying at the bottom of a riverbed for 10 million years, but if you pluck it out and set it in the sun, in five minutes it will is dry.”

“If you take a dry stone from the bank and swish it in the water for a few seconds and sit it down to dry again; in a few moments you will not be able to tell the difference between the two stones.  The one that was wet for millions of years is just as dry now as the stone that was only wet for seconds.”

The point?  Your future does not reflect your past because no matter how long you have been telling your story and living in the bondage of your status-quo, once you set an intention to make a shift into a new level of living… the quality of your life can change forever.

A life that has been newly found has exactly the same dynamic energy as someone who has been living that life for decades. You don’t have to catch up to someone that has been living that life longer than you because the moment you start expressing your new-found life, you bring new life to everyone and everything you encounter.

In what are familiar biblical terms, I am talking about letting your light shine!  When the light is on, the light is on!

We are here to find freedom.  Freedom is having a sense of complete well-being regardless of our circumstances or conditions and we find freedom by choosing to live by proven spiritual principles, (aka a God-centered life, Christ consciousness) in any given moment. 

Spiritual freedom is a choice.

(Read“The Gift,” pg. 122 of “a 2nd helping of chicken soup for the soul” by John Catenacci)

[The Gift can be read here: http://books.google.com/books?ei=h1-qUL25LIHlyAH56YHIAQ&sqi=2&id=LrljpJRjq10C&dq=the+gift+by+john+Catenacci&ots=oVmzroiEgK&q=the+gift#v=snippet&q=the%20gift&f=false ]

It was accepted that Grandpa wouldn’t come, that the past would become the very real present.  But… Love broke through. 

John says in the story that the family was intimidated by Grandpa’s icy stare.  What habits/fears are you intimidated by and afraid to face?  What’s your “but-thinking?”

We want to push away our feelings – I hear this all the time – “I don’t want this, I’m tired of this, I want to get rid of this feeling.”  Then I might suggest a spiritual approach and that’s when it comes out, “Yeah, I know, but…” Have you ever heard yourself say this?

I once heard a man say, “The healing is in the feeling.”

I believe we have to feel our feelings in order to heal them.

What we resist persists… looms larger.

Feel your feelings and act from spirit no matter how loudly your feelings invite you not to.

Freedom is a choice.  Make a commitment to choose spirit over fear.

A woman tells a story about the day her son came into her office to tell her he was going to make a parachute jump the next day, what he was going to do and how he was going to do it the next day when he made that jump.  She said she could also hear the fear in his voice.  “Yet,” she said, “it was about feeling the fear and doing it anyway.”

In Genesis it says that we are made in the image and after the likeness of God.

In 1John it says God is Love.

If these two statements are accurate, and I believe they are, than we are Love… Divine Love and we know that Divine Love heals and harmonizes… no buts about it.

The next time the pressure is on and you want a change, don’t fall back into old patterns of pushing away the pressure…don’t be a “but-head…” feel the pressure and choose to express Spirit. :o)

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Spiritual People

The full text as prepared for the Sunday, November 11, 2012 message:

 Here’s a question I’d like you to ask you.  You can answer silently. “Who are you?”

Here’s another question which you can also answer silently, “What’s your profession?”

Whether you were stumped by these two questions or had a ready answer, I have answers for you.  “Who are you?” You are a spiritual person.  “What is your profession?”  Regardless of how you answered, may I be so bold as to give you the answer?  Your profession, regardless of what position or title you hold… your number one profession is… spiritual person.

So what is a spiritual person?  What does it mean?

There are three common characteristics of a spiritual person.  The first one is:  Every spiritual person is a risk taker.

Are you a risk taker?  Do you step out and follow God, even when it's not in the normal flow of the people around you?

Do you dare to dream your dreams, no matter what?  The truth is, there are no statues or monuments built to those people who said, "Oh well, this looks good enough."  The statues and monuments are built to those who dared to take the risk, who dared to step out and say, "This is a better way.  This is a higher vision.  This is the path I will follow."  In this life, stretch forth and dare to live your dreams.  Dust them off, for God has placed those dreams in your hearts for a reason.

The second quality of a spiritual people is they are visionaries.  They live for what is forthcoming.  They see the good, the perfect pattern of God, and they are willing to do whatever needs to be done now to let that pattern emerge.  It's almost as if they stepped back in time with the full knowledge of the future, and are willing to share that knowledge with us so that today can be a better, more joyous place.  Visionaries do not look at tradition or how it has been or how it's supposed to be.  Instead they look to the future and what is forthcoming, and pull us right along with them – like a magnet.

The third quality of a spiritual people is that they are outrageous.  Have you ever thought about that?  Spiritual people might not fit the norm.  Most of us here today are not normal.  We have found our spirituality because we were looking for something
that didn't fit the normal flow, something that we could use every day of our lives to live in an unusual, fulfilling, incredible space where we are aware of God's presence every moment in our lives. When we become willing to be outrageous enough to see God's
design for our lives, we become willing to do what it will take to fulfill that design.

Now, Jesus was like this.  I'll prove it to you.  He was a risk taker.  He dared to challenge the scribes and the Pharisees and say to them, "Woe unto you for teaching the letter of the law that killeth and not the spirit of the law that giveth life."  And He also sought to communicate with them by saying, "I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law," to bring
in that higher law of love.

He was also a visionary.  He looked around at a time when people had very little, when they were struggling to find their daily bread, and said to them, "The kingdom of heaven is within you, and it is God's good pleasure to give you the fullness of that kingdom."

And truly, ask anyone around Him, He was outrageous.  He did healings on the Sabbath.  He ate with publicans and sinners.  He forgave an adulteress and, even worse, tax collectors.  He touched lepers and cleansed the temple of the money changers.
He had the audacity to stand before the tomb of his friend Lazarus and say, "Come forth," knowing absolutely that his friend would arise. He was crucified, dead, and buried, and He was outrageous to rise up.  Then He goes an outrageous step further and says to us, BTW "These things that I have done, ye can do also, and even greater things."  Definitely, He was not your average person.  This day, He stands before us, in our lives saying, "Take the risk.  Open yourself to the goodness of God.  Celebrate and radiate that power of God in and through you now."

What must it be like to be know the power of God radiating through you… and to live in the happiness of knowing it?  

Here's a story that might help make a point:

During Napoleon's invasion of Russia, his troops were battling in the middle of yet another small town in that endless wintry land, when he was accidentally separated from his men. A group of Russian Cossacks spotted him and began chasing him through the twisting streets. He ran for his life and ducked into a little furrier's shop on a side alley. As he entered the shop, gasping for breath, he saw the furrier and cried piteously, "Save me, save me!

Where can I hide?" The furrier said, "Quick, under this big pile of furs in the corner," and he covered Napoleon up with many furs. No sooner had he finished than the Russian Cossacks burst in the door, shouting "Where is he? We saw him come in." Despite the furrier's protests, they tore his shop apart trying to find him. They poked into the pile of furs with their swords but didn't find him. Soon, they gave up and left.

After some time, Napoleon crept out from under the furs, unharmed, just as the emperor's personal guards came in the door. The furrier turned to Napoleon and said timidly, "Excuse me for asking this question of such a great man, but what was it like to be under those furs, knowing that the next moment would surely be your last?"

Napoleon drew himself up to his full height and said to the furrier indignantly, "How could you ask such a question of me, the Emperor Napoleon! Guards, take this impudent man out, blindfold him and execute him. I, myself, will personally give the command to fire!"

The guards grabbed the poor furrier, dragged him outside, stood him up against a wall and blindfolded him.

The furrier could see nothing, but he could hear the movements of the guards as they slowly shuffled into a line and prepared their rifles, and he could hear the soft ruffling sound of his clothing in the cold wind. He could feel the wind tugging gently at his clothes and chilling his cheeks, and the uncontrollable trembling in his legs.

Then he heard Napoleon clear his throat and call out slowly, "Ready. . . aim. . ." In that moment, knowing that even these few sensations were about to be taken from him forever, a feeling that he couldn't describe welled up in him as tears poured down his cheeks.

After a long period of silence, the furrier heard footsteps approaching him and the blindfold were stripped from his eyes. Still partially blinded by the sudden sunlight, he saw his eyes looking deeply and intently into his own - eyes that seemed to see into every dusty corner of his being. Then he said softly, "Now you know.”

Knowing about principles isn’t enough; you have to live them to know them.

If you want to know what the power of God radiating through you is like, you have to “be outrageous” and express it, live it.

If you want to know the soothing peace and contentment of forgiveness, you have to “be outrageous” and express it, live it.

If you want to know the certain joy and relief of not having to decide for yourself by following the guidance of Spirit, you have to “be outrageous,” connect, listen, and express it.

Whatever you want in life, take the risk of the visionary and in outrageous contentment live the life you want to have.

God bless you.

 
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The Kidney Stone

The full text as prepared for the Sunday, October 14, 2012 message:

           

This past Friday I asked Jim what he spoke about last week and he told me the impetus for his talk was this song lyric, “Love, lift us up where we belong.”  “Oh, that’s beautiful,” I told him.

Every talk has an impetus, and for me, today, it’s a kidney stone.

          Sunday night after the picnic, Jane had to take me to the emergency room because of a kidney stone.  If you’ve ever experienced a kidney stone you know how debilitatingly painful it can be.  Now my stone turned out to be about 1.5mm.  Do you have any idea how small that is?  1.5mm is about the thickness of a penny.

          How can such a small thing… have such a large impact?

          A small thing such as a misplaced, thoughtless, or unkind word directed at another can be the catalyst for suffering and pain.  A small thing such as a misplaced, thoughtless, or unkind thought directed at ourselves can be the cause of our suffering and pain.

          A small thing such as faith the size of a mustard seed, we are told, can move mountains.

          Let’s talk about spiritual practice.

          I suggest to you that even a small dedication to spiritual principles will have a large impact on your life.  Now I don’t want you to misunderstand that thought… that even a small dedication to spiritual principles will have an impact on your life.

          I do not mean an on again-off again dedication.  I am not talking about running to God for relief when the pain comes on and then forgetting about God, about spiritual principles, when the pressure is off.  I’m not suggesting that we only have to do a little when we’re uncomfortable.

          What I am suggesting is all we need to carry is a little willingness, a little faith, trust, care, belief… whatever… all the time… and into every little thing as well as every big thing.

          Little things do have an impact.

We are told by the living Christ Presence that faith the size of a mustard seed (or a kidney stone) moves mountains.

          Sometimes “mountains” just seem to come to us and sometimes we build them ourselves.  We build them but not addressing the “little things” (aka annoyances) in our life.

          I believe it’s important to address the little things with faith, trust, care, belief, etc.  When we avoid the little annoyances we’re just tossing them into our own bag of garbage that we continuously haul around. In fact, we haul them around until we have a self-made mountain of them… a mountain to which we are bonded.  Ick!

          How much more enjoyable would life be if we chose not to haul around garbage?  

          How do we avoid all this?... by listening to our inner guidance (Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Voice for Love, God, our Buddha Nature) however we define that.

          Have you ever felt the urge (inner direction) not to say something… or do something… which you ignored, then went ahead and did or said only to know immediately that was the wrong decision?

          Here’s a short video.  The character of Jesus is a symbol of your inner guidance, however you describe it.

          (PLAY VIDEO: OneTimeBlind, The Stool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3qh2dJxUy8)

          I know that it’s difficult to rely on someone, or something else.  We’ve been trained from the time we were young to be independent, to be a bastion of strength, to calculate and analyze, to be in control… to make things happen.  It’s no wonder that the idea of stepping back and letting God lead the way is foreign.

          Little thing do have a big impact.

          There is a light in you, in everyone; the Light of God… and the universe and all that it contains is longing to behold your release of this Light.  All the universe and all it contains is waiting to join with you in the Light of God.  As you step back, the Light in you steps forward and encompasses the world in happy union.

          Step back and let God lead the way.  “Who walks with me?” is a question you can ask yourself a thousand times a day.  God is always present.  Ask, “Who walks with me?” in your responses to the little things.

“Who walks with me today (who sits on the sat of decision, as we saw in the video).  God is always present. Ask, “Who walks with me?” until certainty has ended doubting and established peace.

          Asking, “Who walks with me?” throughout the day is a little thing that has a big impact.

          Today let doubting cease.

You walk with God in perfect holiness. 

You are the Light of the world… and that is no little thing!

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Peace is Personal

The full text as prepared for the Sunday, September 16, 2012 message:

Events this week have reached deeply into the nation psyche of the United States.

How have you/are you reacting to the unrest and violence against the U.S. this past week?  Do you/did you feel hate and anger against the murderers and attackers of U.S. Embassies abroad?  Did you feel sick to your stomach, anxious, or even scared?

A Course in Miracles asks this question, “In honesty, is it not harder for you to say, “I love” than “I hate?”

I want to share three reactions to the attacks.  Here are two to start with:

“I assume Obama, as he killed Bin Laden, is going to kill someone today… he has to.” (Dennis Miller to Bill O’Reilly, September 12, 2012)

He’s (Obama) going to have to track these people down and kill them. (paraphrase of Wolf Blitzer on CNN, September 12, 2012)

Comments from Ken Wapnick, The Obstacles to Peace. (Pgs 190-191)

“In our world, certainly, it is much easier to hate people and feel justified in this hatred, than it is to truly love someone.  This is not the love that specialness holds dear, but the love that does not see another as separate from ourselves; not seeing another person’s interest as separate, or more or less important than our own.”

Resistance, fighting back, seems to be the overwhelming reaction of the human race in every situation.

Personally, I got anxious after watching/hearing the news for several hours and I had to ask myself, “Are these the feelings I want to entertain?  No, I choose Love, because I believe in the power of love to bring peace to my heart.”

 (SLIDE) Matthew  5:37-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect [consistent], therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect [consistent].

There is value in our giving attention to that which we choose to experience. 

We have to bring these spiritual principles into our lives… pay attention to them. “But I get busy…”

(THE VALUE OF ATTENTION from New Life News, Fall/winter 2012) “An experienced forest guide was hired by some people who wanted to explore the woods.  He knew it was first necessary to destroy their false confidence in themselves.  Pointing to a hilltop beyond the woods he directed, “Fix our attention on that hill and climb it in a minimum of time.”

When the puffing hikers reached the hilltop they found their guide waiting for them.  “Do you know why you are so late?” he asked.  You were distracted by the sights along the way.  Had you kept your attention on this hilltop you would not have lost your way.””

Moral: Do not be distracted by superficial attractions, but keep your attention on the spiritual hilltop you want to reach.”

John Wooden was fond of asking: "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" (as quoted in the Denver Post, September 13, 2012)

“Where love is, there God is also. Man's nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been known to yield to the influence of love.” (Gandhi)

“What you want also wants you. If you seek the celestial, the celestial also seeks you. There are no unanswered requests in the universe.” (Vernon Howard)

I trust in the power of love to bring peace to my heart.  In doing so on an ongoing basis there is more peace in the world. 

When you work to bring peace to your heart on an ongoing basis, there is more peace in the world.

Peace is not won through religious or governmental domination.  There will never be a peaceful government in the world until we are governed by peace in our hearts and minds.  Let’s keep our “eyes” focused on the “Hilltop of Peace.” 

Peace is possible because peace is personal.

We can do this… we can do this.

Gospel of Thomas #76, "The Pearl"

(This are the notes I prepared.  My actual talk was somewhat different)

[Drink from a glass of water] Ah . . . the nectar of life. Just think of it. It is something that is readily available to us. As we drink it, it pours into our being and gives our body vitality. God is even more readily available to us and gives us life. God gives us so much to be grateful for, so much to pour into our being and to remind us of what life is and what it is all about.

Halifax, Nova Scotia – Oak Island is the location of purported treasure buried at the bottom of a shaft.  No one has ever been able to access the bottom of the shaft because it was built with “booby traps” that have prevented anyone from reaching the bottom of the pit.

Real treasure is the awareness of God and that is found within.

          Gospel Of Thomas #76: “Jesus said, "God's Divine Rule is like a merchant who had
a supply of merchandise and then found a pearl.  That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself. So also with you, seek the treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys.”

          Psychologists will say that when we wish to make changes in our life we often focus on what is missing in us, of what we lack and how we're lacking. (we’re lacking thinness; companionship; money; things; jobs; this, or that, or the other thing).

          We will never obtain something, if our main focus is the lack of it.

          It has been said that, “The sure way to do something for your future is to do something with your present.”

The experience of the possession of the “Pearl of Great Price” is inner peace.

Jesus also said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, and all things shall be added unto you.”

My father taught me kindness, and I have adopted that as the lens through which I interface with the world.  I seek the Kingdom of God through kindness.

I believe, if we choose one aspect of the nature of God (i.e. kindness, caring, compassion, joy, happiness, gratitude, etc.) and live that as our one special spiritual gift to give ourselves, then everything else (the rest of the Kingdom) will come along with it, and thus we know inner peace.

          Spiritual awareness means to focus your mind, your heart, and all your thoughts, consciously, on the idea of your oneness of God.

Spiritual expression means to give your life to the fulfillment of the gift (i.e. kindness, etc.) you are giving yourself.

          What is my way to the pearl of great price?  We must ask ourselves this.

          This parable of the Pearl of Great Price advises us to sell all we have in order to buy (to take possession of… to have the experience of) the Pearl of Great Price. 

First, in mind, we have to sell off (divest ourselves of) ALL our worries, our doubts, fears and our anxieties. We must release it all so we can take possession of that that is holy and perfect.

   THE TRAVELER WHO NEVER STOPPED

“A traveler through the countryside was suddenly accosted by another traveler who told him in a frightened voice, "We have wasted our time in this direction. Behind those clouds is a vast mountain which will block our way."

Surprised at the report, the traveler set out to see whether it was true or not. He saw no mountain, but he did meet another stranger who gave him the gloomy report, "It is hopeless to con­tinue your journey. Just beyond that meadow is a canyon so wide that even the animals are stopped by its edge."

Deciding to see for himself, the traveler went on his way. He saw that there was no canyon at all, but he did run into a third stranger in a military uniform, who sternly commanded, "Stop. You are forbidden to go on. This path leads straight into the camp of an army which will punish your attempts to continue."

Not frightened by the threat, the traveler walked on. There were no soldiers to block his way. So because the wise traveler decided to take no one’s word for anything, but to test everything for him­self, he was able to travel on and on and on. (Secrets For Higher Success by Vernon Howard, page 164-165)

          Determination: To find the pearl, we have to continue on our spiritual path and let not anyone or anything deter us. 

Give all your troubles, thoughts, cares, and concerns to God for God to heal.  Do this as often as they appear for you. 

In a worldly sense the Pearl of Great Price would be of enough value to cover the cost of all and every worldly need.

Spiritually speaking the Pearl of Great Price, God’s divine rule at work in our hearts and minds, covers the cost of living in the world (heals and harmonizes our relationship to the challenges in our life).  It brings us inner peace… and inner peace is our most valuable possession.

Remember that giving and receiving are the same. Give your gift to the world and pour the Life of God (take another drink of water) all over your being.

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Shake It Off and Step Up

The full text as prepared for the Sunday, August 19, 2012 message:

            I spent a lot of time this week thinking about something I said last week.

            Sometimes I say things that I’ve planned out, and sometimes I say things that I’m already aware of… things I’ve thought about or talked about before.  And sometimes things come out of my mouth that, in retrospect, I realize that I’d never thought of before.

            This idea that I put forth last week was kind of a mash-up of all three, or at least, the inspiration I felt during the week was a new thought for me.

            This is what I’m referring to: last week I talked about how when we catch ourselves being negative – we’re on a spiritual path and we’re heading toward something positive, towards a more expanded experience or a more peaceful experience and we catch ourselves being negative… what we all do, or at least have done… is we get upset with ourselves and we go through this verbal self-abuse about being unconscious when we want to remain conscious.  We do this instead of saying to ourselves, “Oh my gosh, I’m conscious, thank you God!”  and it seems to me that we can’t become conscious, we can’t return to consciousness, we can’t remember to be conscious with out the aid of God.

            Let me repeat that, “I don’t think we can return to consciousness without the aid of God. “

            If that’s accurate than what does that mean?  Every time we recognize we’ve been unconscious, which is the same as saying we’ve returned to consciousness, it must be because we have become aware of the Presence of God!  It must be because the Power and Presence of God has bubbled up into awareness.

            This is the part I was thinking about this week… how that’s what’s actually happening.  it's as though God is tapping us on the shoulder and saying, “Hey, I’m over here” instead of over there… over there being anywhere in which, or any time during which, we are unaware of God… or enmeshed in thoughts of negativity… and God taps us on the shoulder and we are actually available enough to be aware of it.  And God says, “Hey, I’m right here” and this is the part I really began to think about: the power behind saying, “Thank you God.  Thank you for your help.  Thank you for caring enough about me to tap me on the shoulder (so to speak) to say, Hey, I’m here.”  

            It was powerful for me this week to think about those things, and I think that that’s a very powerful way to break the habit of negativity.  

             Maybe we get a little too wrapped up in having this or that negative reaction, negative circumstance or condition, or whatever it is, and we battle against it, we fight against it, we try to overcome it, subdue it, conquer it, destroy it, vanquish it… and that does it keep the battle alive.  If you’re participating in fighting against anything, then you’re in battle with it, trying to dominate it.

            Where is the scripture that says, “Blessed is he who come in the name of dominance…?” Nowhere.

            Psalm 118:26 does say, though, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. You are blessed from the house of the Lord.”  The Lord meaning spiritual activity, “Blessed is the one who come in the name of spiritual activity.  You are blessed from (by) your spiritual activity.”

            There’s this thing… and I don’t know if it’s a dumb thing that guys just do or if it’s rooted in any tradition, but there’s this dumb thing that guys do where each combatant clasps the others forearm and then their hands and forearms are lashed and tied together so you can’t get apart.  Then you tried to beat the living daylights out of each other… until one of you is subdued.

            That, to me, is what it’s like engaging negative thinking in a “fight” kind of way.  All that does is actually bind that to us, and we just keep slugging it out and slugging it out… and much like Sisyphos who rolled the huge boulder to the top of the hill only to have it roll back down again and was compelled to repeat this action over and over again, we continue to fight against that which we do not want.  We continue to strap our hands and forearms to our challenges and wail away at the until we become exhausted and ask for mercy… or we get bloodied and we surrender in defeat because we can’t get away from it, whereas, if we say, “Thank you God, I’ve been unconscious and now I’ve remembered, with your help,” that, metaphorically speaking, takes one of those straps, one bit of binding off, if not all of it.

            So I think this is one good, very easy, very gentle and effective way, to break the binds that hold us to our struggle.  This is an easy step that we all can do.

The other way we have to try to overcome this, in all its variants, in all the ways it might appear for us… and it’s too much for us (not to mention we can’t do it alone anyway).  It’s too big and it overwhelms us when we don’t include the awareness and the remembrance of the Presence of God… and gratitude for that.  So I think this is such a simple step to begin in that way to start to dissolve the power of negativity.

I don’t believe it’s any more difficult than that:

·         to recognize we’ve been unconscious

·         say Thank you, God

·         and then, from there, do whatever our spiritual practice is

 Sometimes when we go to negativity it’s “just” complaint about this or that or resistance to this or that.  But part of the way we’re kept in negativity is by reliving old bad memories; painful hurtful old memories that seem to rise up from time to time… and maybe even frequently… and we accept the invitation to participate in that old hurt again.  We accept the invitation to go back and relive that old hurt and establish that it has some kind of value for us.  If it has no value to us, why would we choose to relive it; to replay it in our hearts and minds again?  I believe that we do not participate in any thinking that we do not think has value for us somehow.  We must find some value in it otherwise we wouldn’t do it.

When old painful memories come up what do you do?  Imagine you had a box full of photographs that represented experiences in your life.  If you picked out one that reminded you of painful times, would you hold it, gaze at it, maybe even touch some part of it and then a wistful smile spreads across your face as you feel a longing to remember it and go back there?

I don’t think so.

Would you feed oats to a dead horse?

What I’m suggesting is when old, painful memories come up, and we become aware of them, that we say thank you God, and we go to our spiritual practice that we already have in place.

If you don’t already have a spiritual practice that you default to, then, once you regain consciousness from your struggle, say thank you and ask, what would you have me do?  From there, take a few moments to settle inside and listen for guidance.  Maybe it’ll come right away; maybe you’ll feel the inspiration in a day or two.

Here’s another way that I think we defeat ourselves… we give up too soon.

There’s a parable about a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule braying, or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what happened, and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him.  It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, he should shake it off and step up! This he did, blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up. Shake it off and step up. Shake it off and step up!" He repeated it to encourage himself.

No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed, the mule fought panic and just kept right on Shaking It Off and Stepping Up! You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of the well and out of his trouble.

No problem is healed (solved) without the Presence of God at work in our lives.  Sometimes the Presence of God is a conscious act for us and sometimes it occurs in the sub-conscious.

Why not give yourself the benefit of the doubt and invite God into your awareness?

What seemed like it would bury the mule actually blessed him, all because of the positive perspective from which he viewed his adversity. And once we reject the invitation to participate in adversity, in negativity… or once we decide to leave the party and go home, so to speak, to thank God for tapping us on the shoulder to remind us we’ve been unconscious, a blessing has been released and healing is free to move in our life.

My intention was to conclude the service at this point, but as I finished preparing this talk I was prompted by my Inner Guidance (which I think of as the Holy Spirit) to write these words:

“Trust is the main requirement in finding a happier, more peaceful life.  Trust in Me. Trust in the power and Presence of Me.  Why do you doubt what you have not yet fully tried? What difference would it make if you were wrong? Would it be anything more than a temporary departure from what already isn’t working or is working minimally?  “Try Me, you’ll like Me.”  Now go and have fun in life.  Bring good cheer with you in whatever you do.  I love you.”

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Look Above The Bar

(This week I laid my talk out in bullet points)

·        Watching Olympics

o       All participants have a common story

o       A willingness to do the work

o       Fight through negative thinking

o       Maintain a positive approach

·        Pole vaulter story from Norman Vincent Peale in, "Power of Positive Thinking":

o       Up for scholarship – make a vault he’s already made before and get athletic scholarship

o       I imagine this is a lot of pressure on him

o       (Have you noticed that when the pressure gets on us, interior inferior thinking rises to the forefront of our thinking?)

o       Pole vaulter looks at the pole then at the bar - “I don’t have what it takes.”

o       Coach: “I want you to throw your heart over the bar.  In your imagination and in your eyesight only see things above the bar.”

·        So often we look below the bar and then looking up at the bar, it seems so high and we think, “I don’t have what it takes.”

·        If you would, ahead of time, visualize everything above the bar and nothing below the bar, the lifting power of God with throw you up and over every obstacle in life.

·        It will work every time because you are more than flesh and bone – that is the least of you –

·        You have the spirit of God with you and God is giving you the strength and courage to go anywhere you want to go (God can only do for you what God can do through you)

·        Col 3:2 “Set your mind on what is above, not what is on the earth.”

·        If you wish to keep up comfortable place in mind, and have a peaceful soul, you must distance yourself, at least somewhat, from negative distractions around you.

·        But distancing yourself isn't easy, especially when so many negatives are struggling to get your attention, and your participation.

·        C.S. Lewis advised, "Aim at heaven…" That's a wise reminder. You're likely to hit what you aim at.

·        Indy car drives are taught not to look at the wall because they’ll crash if they do.

·        In other words you’re going to go in the direction you look to… so aim high – aim at heaven.

When you do, you’ll be strengthened in character as you improve every aspect of your life.

·        (Tell my own struggles with poor self esteem)

o       Plagued with poor self esteem

o       Never ever believed in myself as worthy, but always as a failure, not good enough

o       Put many hours and personal funds into “wooing” a potential buyer, finding temporary housing for him and his family; took his wife out everyday looking for houses; wife called one night to tell me she found a piece of property with another Realtor.

o       That was, “The straw that broke the camel’s back” after a lifetime of self-esteem self abuse

o       Sought professional help and brought God into the equation

o       Began reciting, “God is the strength on which I depend” in emotionally challenging times. (Quote is the title of Lesson 47 in A Course in Miracles)

·        There is a biblical counterpart: Phil 4:13, “I can do all things through God who strengthens me.”

·        Each week we close our service by reciting The Prayer for Protection and we affirm, “Wherever I am, God is, and all is well.”

What this prayer is affirming is that we are not alone.

o       We are not alone – God is with us always (all ways)

·        We all have this habit – when we realize we’ve been unconscious we get upset with/at ourselves… isn’t that accepting the call to participate in negativity?

o       When you have a spiritual realization, what do you do, get upset or be grateful?  Realizing that you’ve been unconscious is reason for rejoicing because now I’m conscious again!

·        Would you be willing to focus your attention “above the bar?”  Would you be willing, for the next 24 hours, to deliberately speak in positive terms about everything in your life? Would you be willing to speak, positively, about your job, your health, your relationships, your marriage, and your future?

o       Would you be willing to GO OUT OF YOUR WAY to speak, optimistically, about everything? The pessimistic way doesn’t work—it NEVER did. Look for the positive in everything… talk positively.

·        (PLAY VIDEO) http://www.values.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots/99-The-Greatest

·        Look above the bar.