Catching up on the last three weeks

I didn't realize once I went on vacation how long I would stay "on vacation." :o)

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)

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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.

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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.

Logjam

A few bullet points to jog the memory of those who attended service Sunday, May 19, 2013   -   To read the full text, click here.

·        Have you ever looked at a logjam and thought about how they begin?

·        Logs, or tree trunks, or other debris are easily floating down river until the meet a barrier of some sort. Perhaps the waterway narrows or the opening under a bridge isn’t wide enough to allow the floating material to continue downstream. Usually this material gets “crosswise” to the bridge or waterway.

·        The openness of the bridge or expansiveness of the river become limitations to what the flow of the river carries.

·        Once something is stuck at the bridge opening, increasingly smaller and smaller debris piles up behind it and pressure is created because the flow of the river is continuous. When enough pressure is created on the bridge, it will collapse.

·        Isn’t this just like our life and our thinking can be!

·        Big things, big challenges in our lives come along; get crosswise with our personal limitations.  If we don’t get busy doing whatever we need to do to loosen up these “big things” as they occur and get them back into the flow of God that caries all things safely along the river of life we increasingly experience pressure as more and more unattended issues pile up. When we experience too much pressure…

·        Being in resonance with the flow of the river prevents logjams.

·        Being in resonance with the flow of God prevents lifejams.

·        We want to identify with God and get all our cares, concerns, worries, confusions into the flow of God to let them be “carried away downstream.”

·        Too often we identify with the limitation rather than the flow.

·        When we say things like, I am not smart enough (or unhappy or sick, or poor, or not good enough, etc.) we are declaring to all the world that we are our limitation.

·        These limitations are what you perceive you are.

·        You are not your limitations.

·        Perceive (identify with) something different like the Power and Presence of God working in you, though you, and as you.

·        When we are pressured with something, BEGIN WITH GOD.

·        Sometimes we end up with God being our last resort. That’s the hard way of doing things.

·        Before every “miracle,” Jesus blessed what He had, or what He was about to do. He always began with God!

·        This week, if you’re willing, bless everything you have, whether you think of it as a lot, little, or a perceived void… and bless everything you do before you do it (or bless it after you do it if you forgot to bless it beforehand. Blessing is not limited by time or space).

·        And when you find yourself in times of doubt, worry, fear, or confusion, bless yourself with this reminder, “There is no place for these things in the mind of God”

 

God Direct Me

A few bullet points to jog the memory of those who attended service Sunday, May 5, 2013   -   To read the full text, click here.

 “Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and compassionate… and abounding in love…” (Joel 2:13)

·        God never angers. God is gracious, compassionate and abounding in love. That’s why it’s important for us to become aware of (return to) the awareness of the Presence of God.

·        We can begin our return by saying, “God direct me.”

·        “God’s Help” comes as a result of allowing ourselves to be directed by divine truth, as best we understand it and have practiced it, which, then, results in our lives changing for the better.

·        God’s power is present in every one of us…we must allow it to move and be ready to move and change as necessary. (i.e. do something differently)

·        Invite God into your life – in other words, live according to your highest understanding of divine truth… and be ready. Be ready to think and act differently… and you’ll have a different experience because you won’t do those same things that have kept you corralled into the same experience.

·        The idea that we cannot change is a human lie we tell ourselves.

·        Can you move beyond your limitations? The answer is, “Yes, you can!”    

·        Mt 5:14 “YOU are the light of the world,” not you are a faceless, unimportant ho-hum member of society…, but YOU are the light (the expressed truth) of the world!

·        When you are in partnership with God, when you follow the teaching of Jesus Christ (not just read about them and be able to repeat them, but really live them) you make a difference right where you are – your family – job – business – service to mankind – because you have been willing to let God direct you.

·        We need to believe in bigger possibilities, not just as individuals but s a nation and as humanity.

·        We’ve all had mountains to climb so big and so powerful we didn’t know how we’d do it.

·        The important thing is to keep climbing, but don’t climb alone.

·        God is there holding the rope. You do what is possible and God will do the impossible.

·        You are the light of the world – you are the truth in expression in the world; you are the hands, feet, and voice for God in the world.

·        If you are willing (and willingness is key), let “God Direct Me” be your mantra this week.

Thinking Becomes Experience

A few bullet points to jog the memory of those who attended service Sunday, April 28, 2013   -   To read the full text, click here.

·        Many people approach their lives as though the events of the day are going to dictate whether or not they’re going to feel good or bad about the day at any given moment.

·        Unity teaches that our way of thinking creates the experience of our life.

·        No circumstance, condition or person can “make” us feel this way or that.

·        How we feel in response to anything is up to us.

·        When we identify someone or thing as the cause of what we’re feeling, we give our power away to that someone or thing.

·        Do you want to live a powerless life?

·        Do you believe in the possibility that your way of thinking creates the experience of your life may be true?

·        Have you ever experimented with changing your thinking and observing how your experience changes?

·        All too frequently when conditions don’t seem to be falling into place – according to our expectations – we suddenly drop our whole spiritual outlook, cycle back into negative emotions and then carry those negative emotions forward into a negative experience.

·        “Attitude is a little thing that makes a BIG difference.” Winston Churchill.

·        Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of Unity healed herself from an illness and her lifelong belief that she would always have that illness. She did this using prayer and meditation after she changed her way of thinking about her condition.

·        There is biology to our belief.  What we believe not only effects us mentally and emotionally, but the work of Dr. Bruce Lipton demonstrates it also affects us physically.

·        Really understanding, that our way of thinking creates the experience of our life is a light that will illumine, enliven, and bring clarity to:

o       Affirmative prayer

o       Forgiveness

o       Self-awareness

o       Our relationship with others, the world, our health, and

o       Our awareness of the Presence of God

·        This week, if you’re willing, trying up-leveling your thinking when you find yourself in negativity and see how your experience changes.

Love Follows Forgiveness II

A few bullet points to jog the memory of those who attended service Sunday, April 21, 2013
To read the full text, click here.

·        Last Sunday we talked about forgiveness. In lieu of events that followed during the week, considering forgiveness was prescient.

·        Did you get upset this past week? Did you get scared, angry, or frightened? Did you practice any forgiveness?

·        Last week I said, “Forgiveness is the key to Happiness.” Perhaps that could be restated, “Forgiveness is the key to inner peace.”

·        The question going forward is not "How guilty is that man," but "How do I stand in the sight of the Father as to my ideas about his guilt?

·        Romans 13:8, “Owe no one anything except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

·        Where might Paul have gotten this crazy, wild, radical idea that we should love one another?

·        Perhaps from the words of Jesus found in John 13:34-35, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. As I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

·        “Your thoughts should at all times be worthy of your highest self, your fellow man, and God. The thoughts that most frequently work ill to you and your associates are thoughts of criticism and condemnation. Fill your mind with thoughts of divine love, justice, peace, and forgiveness. This will pay your debts of love, which are the only debts you really owe.” (Prosperity (Charles Fillmore)/page123)

·        How forgiveness works, and “Why should I forgive?” is a mystery to many.

·        (How) Forgiveness removes the “painful emotional charge” from the event and allows us to experience the memory of the event without the pain.

·        (Why) Holding onto negative emotions is ultimately damaging physically.

·        We all share a common purpose beyond our goals and aspirations in the world: to reclaim our rightful inheritance as Children of God, and return “Home;” return to the awareness of Heaven. We would do well to keep our eyes on that prize while we go about our business in the world. Our thoughts should at all times be worthy of our highest self, our fellow man, and God. But what about when it hurts? What about when we are so consumed with fear, anger, guilt, etc.?

o       When our thoughts bring us hurt; forgive.

o       When our thoughts bring us fear; forgive.

o       When our thoughts bring us guilt, anger, shame, etc.; forgive.

·        When you are looking for inner peace for any reason; forgive.

Love Follows Forgiveness

For those who were at service on Sunday, April 14, 2013, a few bullet points to jog your memory.

To read the complete text of "Love Follows Forgiveness" click here.

• Beyond all the goals and aspirations any one of us might have in the world, do you think our deepest interests are really separate, unique and individual?  I don’t.

•  We all share one common interest: internal peace.

•  Internal peace is found through knowing and expressing the Love of God.

•  Once we recognize we all share one common interest, how could we hate, judge, or justify our anger?

•  Distress is the inseparable partner of hate, anger, fear, guilt, etc.  When we are in distress we are maintaining barriers to the awareness (and expression) of Love’s Presence.

•  Forgiveness dissolves all these barriers allowing us to remember the experience of Love. Love follows forgiveness.

•  Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, defines forgiveness as, “A process of giving up the false for the real.”  Perhaps this definition could restated as, “Giving up the idea of finding peace in the temporary for the eternal.”

•  Mr. Fillmore also said, “It is through forgiveness that true spiritual healing is accomplished.”

•   “Forgiveness is not for other people. It is for our ourselves so we can heal and move on.”

•  Forgiveness is the key that opens that Gates of Heaven for us.

Leader of the Pack

For those who were at service on Sunday, April 7, 2013, a few bullet points to jog your memory.

To read the complete text of "The Leader of the Pack" click here

 

•  My wife, Jane, and I recently adopted a young dog whose "manners" left a little to be desired, particularly when it came to understanding her bathroom is outside.
• I quickly turned to advice from Cesar Millan, "The Dog Whisperer" vis his book Be The Pack Leader.
• Many of the things Cesar Millan said areas applicable to the spiritual journey as they are to modifying dog behavior.
• One of the things he mentioned is that he noticed after moving to America from Mexico that many Americans live primarily from their intellect.
• Spiritually speaking the intellect is not wise. It is not the home of wisdom. It's job is to carry out the orders it is given.
• A healthy intellect carries out "to the letter of the law" the instructions it has been given.
• An unhealthy intellect argues back and forth, endeavoring to prove it is the highest authority… something more than the “carry-outer” of instructions. Misguided intellect wants to ascend to the seat of authority, usurp God, and be the pack leader… which it is not.   
• We must demand of our intellect – during the inner argument for authority – to surrender to wisdom. 
• I contend there are only two voices from which our counsel comes: The voice for Love and the voice for not Love.
• The voice for Love we might also call God, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit “speaking” to us. 
• The voice for not Love is the voice that advocates everything but Love. We could call this voice ego, or devil, or Satan. 
• There is a moment when we can call ourselves “Pack Leader,” but that is temporary. 
• The voice for Love will always only tell us one thing, that we are love.
• The voice for not love will always tell us we are limited, that we are not good enough or smart enough, of strong enough, or capable.  It’ll also council us to accept fear, guilt, shame, hate, anger, jealousy, hopelessness, etc. 
• The Pack Leader sets the tone for the pack. The Pack Leader determines what is acceptable and what isn’t. This is where you get to be the pack leader; you establish that the pack of lies the ego is always foisting on us are not true.
• When those thoughts and feelings arise, be the pack leader and deny their truth. Do not let them take control of your thoughts. The Pack Leader requires the pack to stay behind him and follow him.  Tell those lies, “Get thee behind me…” (MT 16:23) 
• Once you’ve established your dominion over negativity you surrender to the voice for Love, God, your Pack Leader.
• Like Jesus, we are all followers. (Not my will but yours...)
• Cesar Millan says in the book, Marley and Me, that the Grogan family related to Marley as a name and a personality. 
• He also says that is the last way to relate to your dog. 1st: animal - 2nd:dog - 3rd: breed - 4th: name and personality. Relating to your dog as a name and personality will not result in effective communication.
• I suggest we have to relate to other people at the highest level: Spirit. 1st: Spirit - 2nd: Human - 3rd: Societal differences - 4th: Gender - 5th: Name and personality.
• It's no wonder that communication is so difficult when we relate to others with what we have least in common, name and personality.
• Here's an exercise you can try to redirect your awareness of others to that which we have entirely in common, Spirit., I invite you to speak this phrase silently to yourself as you encounter other people: “I am another one of you. Together, in Love, we are One.”