C'mon in, The Water's Great!

Sunday, February 15, 2015

"Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.." (Isaiah 41:10)

I want to tell you about two fellows who went outside for a duel – Pete and Repete. (Not Pete and Repeat like the kids joke, “Pete and repeat are on a boat. Pete falls overboard, who is left?” “Repeat.” “Pete and repeat are on a boat….”) In a little bit I’ll tell you why I’m using Pete and “RePete.”

Pete said to Repete: “You have your choice of weapons.”

Repete said, “All right. Our weapons will be ideas wrapped up in nice boxes.”

So, Pete took the first shot and delivered a package to Repete.   Repete opened it and inside was the idea of sickness. Repete got very, very sick, but, in time, he overcame that sickness. He got well.

Then it was time for Repete to deliver a box to Pete. Pete unwrapped his box and received the idea of poverty. Pete spent many years believing in the ideas of lack, believing he couldn’t have what everybody else had, but, he overcame and soon he was back on top again.

Soon he delivered another box to Repete. This time when Repete opened the box, he received the idea of lack of education. Right away he began to shrivel. He accepted for himself the thought he could not do what others could do because he did not have formal education. In time, he began to realize that our human brain is not alone, that we work with God’s mind, and God’s wisdom can come through.

He overcame the lower ideas and thoughts of society.

Repete then delivered another box to Pete.   Inside this box was the idea of death. Pete accepted that idea and died; but a funny thing happened. He came to realize that death is not a period but a comma in life, and that life in this physical body is not all there is. He realized, we go on.

Finally the time came for the last box to be delivered. Repete opened it up and inside it he found discouragement. Immediately, no matter what came into his life, whether it was sickness or poverty or lack of education, or even the idea of death, he was not able to overcome any of these ideas because he was too discouraged.

Pete and rePete are symbols for the telling and retelling of the thoughts we tell and retell ourselves.

It’s easy to get discouraged on our path to spiritual remembrance when we operate from the idea that we are human… from the forgetting of our divinity. It is hard, operating from human identity, to lift ourselves out of that discouragement.

Today, I pray that through this talk and God's help, that your discouragement will dissolve and transform it into encouragement. I know it can, because I know God is here and God is working inside of my life, thus in yours, too.

When our 10 year old niece was visiting last summer we went to the pool in Pendleton. She was reluctant to jump in the water because she tested it with her toe and it seemed cold. Being the manly uncle that I am, I jumped in the water and said to her, “C’mon, jump in. The water’s great once you jump in.”

The spiritual life is that way, too. Once you jump in, its ok… the water’s great, so to speak.

I know life can be discouraging because I’ve dealt with enormous amounts of negative self-talk. I’ve dipped my toe into the spiritual life and pulled back, afraid of the work involved and the change that might come. Eventually I realized “the water’s great” because I finally jumped into the spiritual life.

When we come to the point when we say we can’t go forward; when we get discouraged and lose hope, it is vital to remember You are NOT alone—God is with you.

Lifting ourselves up strictly from the human perspective is hard, hard, work. It can be done, to a certain level, but it’s the long way home. Remember, always, that God is with you. God can lift you up and keep you up and show you a shorter path.

Get involved with whatever you call the creative power of life.

I’ve suffered at the hands of negative belief about prosperity until I decided to experiment with believing something I used to hear Jane say, “There isn’t a finite amount of money in the world.” I began to experiment with not clutching onto the idea that whatever money goes out from me is loss. I began to experiment with the idea that there is a flow to all things in the world and that my thinking, my trust, my faith affected the inflow coming to me. Once I saw that God did for me in the smallest way I was able to open up and trust that God would do the same for me in the biggest way.

The water’s great. C’mon in!

Another big challenge that turned around in my life was the drag on my life that was present because I was holding to the idea that “lack of education” meant I was “less than.”

In order to enter seminary I was required to hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. I didn’t have one because I never attended college. Unity, thankfully, also offered an option for people without a degree. They call it their “bachelor equivalency path.” I took that road. It required the completion of a two-year program, under their supervision, as well as documenting life experience and showing how that experience related to ministry. All this had to be completed, submitted, and accepted before I could even apply to seminary. Now a person might think that completing a two-year program, submitting a 51 page application, its acceptance, being invited to interviews and testing, and subsequent invitation to seminary would be proof enough of educational competence.

But not for me. I continued to look at what I thought I didn’t have instead of what was present for me.

Why? Because that was all human effort.

I had a classmate named Grace Nicodemus. Grace was in the same boat as I was with respect to a college degree and I would share with her my doubts and misgivings about being qualified. She would say to me, just as in the story I told recently about how Jack Nicklaus said to President Clinton’s admission that he didn’t feel worth of making a putt for an “eagle,” “You’ve got to get over that.”

I did, eventually, once I let go and let God into my heart and mind to direct me about what to do next.

C’mon in, the water’s great!

These two examples show that I have been discouraged along the way.

Yes, there are potholes on this road of life. But we must never stay in the pothole. We must go beyond. Albert Einstein said something extremely powerful. You’ve probably heard this before about being faced with seemingly insurmountable difficulties and discouragement, “The significant problems we have today cannot be solved at the same level of mind that we created them.”

Yes, you may have a problem. You may be in a mess, and you can’t solve it at the same level of mind you entered that problem with.

You can’t solve the problems negative thinking and belief bring by changing outer circumstances; your inner landscape (belief) has to change first.

Un-clutch those ideas of limitation you think you see in yourself and others!

This calls us to expand our thinking as human beings. Expand to what? These negative ideas aren’t actually gone, they just aren’t in the forefront anymore. We push them to the side and we then allow in, or, become aware of the thoughts of God in the forefront of our mind.

One thing that I’ve found to be necessary on my journey to the remembrance of the Presence of God is, to consent in my human mind to the mind of God inspiring through me. There comes that powerful point in our lives when we say, “Dear God, I can’t do it alone anymore. I have to have Your help.” The instant you say that, and really mean it, the Divine ideas flood in. The application of those ideas is what can change your life.

Ephesians 6:13. says, “Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand [the challenges in your life.]”

It is one of the greatest techniques for overcoming. It teaches that when you have done all you can do and are at the point where you are just about ready to get discouraged and give up, you take on the whole armor of God. You take up the belief that God is with you. You are not alone. Your ever-present source of guidance is with you.

Having done all you can do humanly, you just breathe and stand and wait. You become quiet and allow those ideas to flood your mind. Then, and only then, when you are recharged, refreshed and revitalized, you take the actions you need to take.

But why wait until you’ve exhausted every human possibility? Why not take on the full armor of God now? Ask, be quiet and listen for the divine ideas of God to surface in your mind and act according to that guidance?

I invite you one last time today, “C’mon in. The water’s great!”