In this post I'll catch us up on the last three weeks with brief summaries; there will be no full text message with this post.
Also, since next week is Father's Day and several members of the congregation will be sharing the service with me there will be no posting for Monday, June 17th. Posting should be back to normal after that. :)
Sunday June 9, 2013 "Living Originally, part 1" Based on the book of the same name by Robert Brumet
- Original usually is taken to mean unique, separate, individual, apart from all others.
- Original in this context means connected to the origin.
- Living originally thus means living from a conscious connection to that from which we originated.
- Most of us live unconsciously because we have become identified with a false self.
- This false self is a manufactured self; a product of our conditioning and our culture. it is unoriginal.
- This manufactured self we also call our personality. Personality is necessary for survival in the world.
- When we become exclusively identified with it, we lose awareness of our true origin and that become problematic.
- We live from the inside out which means we let our Origin dictate how we interface with the world
- Living from the outside in we attempt to use our manufactured personality and its attendant schemes and strategies to manipulate our circumstances and conditions so that we can (1) fit in, and (2) have the world bring us comfort
- The Apostle Paul lived from the outside in before meeting Jesus on the Road to Damascus. Before his transformation, Paul (Saul of Tsarsus) we a persecutor of the burgeoning "Christian movement."
- After his transformation, Paul because a passionate promoter and planter of Christian churches.
- A metaphysical interpretation of Paul's story is, regardless of your past, God can use you for good. In other words, no matter what you've done in your past or are doing in your present, you can change.
- As we move through the rest of the book and apply the practices Robert Brumet lies out for us it is important that we know the difference between "translation" and "transformation."
- Transformation occurs when we make changes at a core level. Our changes, "...point to a new reality or new identity." (page 7)
- Translation is the use of spiritual principles to, "...function better within the existing self/ reality system... seeking to improve our life rather than transform it." (page7)
Sunday, June 2, 2013 "Don't be cool, be Chili"
- In the film, "Get Shorty," there is a character named Chili Palmer. Chili is a mobster from Miami who has travelled from Miami to L.A. to collect a debt.
- During a conversation with a Hollywood movie star, the star comments that there must be a lot of pressure in what he does. Chili thinks for a moment and says, "There's no pressure, I bring the pressure."
- Although it was not the intention of the dialogue to make a metaphysical point, it does. Pressure (or any experience other than Love) is not inherent in life. Whatever emotion we are experiencing, we bring that experience to ourselves through our way of thinking (our belief system).
- Example: You like dogs and I'm petrified of dogs. We are together and we encounter a dog. It's likely that you will feel love, address the dog, and invite it closer for pets. It is likely I will feel fear and either freeze in fear or want get away as quickly as possible. The only thing that's different in this scenario is how we think about dogs. The pressure I feel about dogs is the pressure I bring... not the dog (circumstance/situation/conditions)
- In Job 22:28 we read, "Decree a thing and it shall be given you." or... when we say this is what something means, that will be our experience of it.
- We hold within ourselves the power of our own internal experience.
- We are not at the whim of what goes on around us, but we are directed by our way of thinking.
Sunday, May 26, 2013 Guest Speaker Jim Tallman
These are the notes that I received from Jim:
- Remember and giving thanks for the soldiers who gave their lives that we might enjoy he freedoms we have.
- Hope that one day we find ways to resolve our problems without war and killing each other. The estimates for deaths worldwide from armed conflict are anywhere from 200 million to 500 million people.
- This is a sad commentary on our "evolution."
- Remember those church members who have passed on that gave so much that we might have our church home.
- The love that was put into the church continues to bless us and sustain us in our efforts to grow spiritually.
- Remember our family members that have passed on who made our lives possible, who blessed us by being a part of our lives. And again the love that each family member and friend sustains and connects us forever, for love is eternal and we can not be separated from those we love. It is in and through the love we share that we express our divinity and oneness.
