SPIRITUAL EMBERS

        THE GOLDEN FIVE SECONDS. When a negative thought percolates up into our consciousness we do not even stop to say “good-by” but immediately switch our attention to the Presence of God in prayer. Just as a burning ember that lands on our sleeve, if we spend anytime considering why the ember fell, the damage is done. By employing this simple strategy in our spiritual house we avoid needless wear and tear on our serenity

RHETORICAL SLEDGE HAMMER

          Do you know anyone who has “tried everything” but has failed to demonstrate much success in life? Some of the obvious “everything’s” are: “I’ve tried every diet but nothing works for me”, “I exercise but nothing seems to happen”, “I just don’t have the time to (fill in the blank)” all of which are nonsense since even though a diet’s food regimen may be unrealistic, every diet works if it is adhered to; I don’t care what the ads say; 20 minutes a day 3 times a week is not going to give us ripped abs; and we always find the time for the things we really want to do. Picture a perpetual bricklayer, toiling to build a wall, and then tearing it down at the end of each day, working hard, accomplishing nothing. The previous examples may be troublesome but they only set the tone for the truly destructive. “I’ve tried to get sober, went to rehab and 12 step programs but they don’t work”, “I’d read the Bible but how do I know who wrote it and besides it’s contradictory”, “I’ve prayed but nothing happens, so either God is punishing me, doesn‘t care or isn‘t there” are all rhetorical death traps, entire crews of perpetual bricklayers at work.

        The 12 step path requires not only turning ones life and will over to the care of God but a great deal of personal commitment and effort, simple but not easy; if we begin studying anything with a fixed idea of what we will find, our fear will find a way to provide it, sabotaging the effort; and all prayers are answered in the manner they are asked. If we believe in God, we demonstrate it. “Faith without work is dead.” By inviting Him in and then slamming the door in His face, dialing His number and hanging up as soon as the connection is made, is it any wonder we fail to demonstrate. Surrender the yeah buts, the you don’t understands, the shoulda,  coulda, wouldas, the contempt prior to investigation and all the other bulwarks of self centered fear that justifies in our consciousness using that rhetorical sledgehammer to tear down our work. Pick up the bricklayers trowel and build a relationship with God and when you find the sledge hammer in your hand, drop it immediately and reaffirm God’s love and light by practicing the Presence of God where the fear is. Soon a wonderful spiritual structure will take shape to sustain you, the sledge hammer all but forgotten.


         

THIRSTY COWBOY

         Remember the scene in the old westerns where the tired, dusty and thirsty cowboy rides in, dismounts his horse and walks over to the pump by the water trough? He sticks his head under the spout, grabs the handle and starts pumping. For the first few pumps nothing happens, it is only after priming the pump, acting seemingly without demonstrating any real result for a time, that the water finally appears and his thirst is quenched. What if he had stopped pumping after one or two strokes? He would have remained thirsty for he lost faith that his actions would demonstrate the desired result.

Faith: n. 1) Belief without evidence. 2) Confidence, trust. 3) Belief in God.

        Believing without evidence, trusting what cannot be measured or explained in secular terms. On the dollar bill it reads “IN GOD WE TRUST.” Writing it or saying it out loud does not make it so any more than sitting in a parking space provides us a car. Only by quietly walking in faith, often trembling, do we demonstrate our trust in God. Work quietly but steadily; never struggle for struggle guarantees failure in our prayer life. We quietly demonstrate faith through our actions, for has it not been said that actions speak louder than words? Walk through life acting as though you have faith, priming the pump, for in so doing we are demonstrating true faith and in due course the water will flow, our thirst quenched.

DOOM AND GLOOM

      “If you really believe in the existence of God you should be happy and cheerful.” So, if we are not (today) does that mean we don’t believe in God? Of course not, I really believe in God, really. But I am not happy and cheerful every moment of every day, hard to believe I know. There are pills that make for 24/7 happiness and joy but I don’t think that is a good long term strategy (tongue firmly in cheek). Some might even ask how anyone could be happy or cheerful in these trying times. By keeping SPIRITUAL perspective. Mankind’s history is replete with dozens upon dozens of boom and bust cycles. Additionally, there have been prophets of doom and gloom stating with absolute certainty the world was ending soon and we 1) are screwed and there is nothing we can do about it, or 2) better all pull together to save ourselves before it is too late. These joyless individuals have been around since man first started keeping records. The one thing they all have in common is their perfect batting average: 0. Every single one has been wrong, the world hasn‘t ended their dire predictions not with standing. Today’s doom and gloomers are as wrong as those who stood in the center of Rome prophesying the end of days 2000 years ago. How do I know? I believe in God. As the Great Prayer states so clearly, He is “Our Father.” Would you allow your children to be exterminated if it was in your power to avoid it? So, just for today, when I feel the sadness and fear the secular world dishes out unremittingly I turn to the truth: We are all children of God, and God has all power, bringing only good, that negative conditions are but passing illusions that dissolve when the shutters of fear and doubt are thrown open and the sunlight of the Spirit streams in. Just for today, when the next “expert” delivers solemnly the latest prophecy of doom, I will smile because I really do believe in God.

THE 5 SECOND RULE

           “But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse, or morbid reflection.” When we have been hurt, the times when we were not at our best, the memories of just plain old screw ups are all relatively easy to dredge up, but those times when we were at our best, when we did the right thing (which in truth is the vast majority of the time) takes real effort to bring into our consciousness. Additionally when we do focus on the positive the negative little voice in our minds eye typically chimes in with its two cents to downplay it, curious how the reverse doesn’t regularly occur. It seems the old newspaper maxim holds true in our consciousness as well: if it bleeds it leads. We do not, cannot control the thoughts that float up into our consciousness but we have full control over how we deal with them. Incorporate the golden “5 second rule” (you know, the dropped food rule) into your thinking. When we become aware of negative thinking, of morbid reflection raising its head, within 5 seconds of becoming aware we turn our attention to the positive, place the Presence of God where the negative appears to be, refusing to entertain the negative. Do not be discouraged if initially this is a bit of a struggle; just remember to be gentle with yourself in thought and deed. In time this will become habit, second nature. Soon you will not only note that your overall thinking has become more upbeat but you feel better and people around you seem to be more upbeat as well. If we wish to reap the positive, which is our spiritual birthright, we must sow positive thoughts. So as with any garden, when we see a weed, pull it, giving the crops we wish to harvest room to grow and flourish, not only enriching us but the world as a whole. Oh, and always pick up that food within 5 seconds, it‘s the law.

OLD STORIES

           We all know someone who never misses an opportunity to retell the story of some past injustice, real or imagined. If they are close to us, we have heard the story so many times that we know it by heart, resisting the temptation (hopefully) to finish it for them. The tale explains why they haven’t or can’t and never will demonstrate over some area in their lives, finishing with almost a sense of triumph in their voice with the retelling. Unfortunately many choose to hold on to past injustices and hurts to the point of shutting themselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. If we are to be free we must set free all who have harmed us, leaving their final disposition to their demonstration before God, getting us out of the retribution business. To be clear: there are those who have committed grievous acts beyond the pale, they will reap as they have sown, but harboring hurt and hate in our heart stunts our growth and limits our demonstrations, forgiving does not mean forgetting. Our job, since embarking on Living on the Spiritual Basis, is to forgive so that we and the whole Human race improves, but it is does not mean we have to place ourselves in a position to be harmed again.

         So we forgive all who have harmed us, setting them and ourselves free, but we don’t have to go to lunch with them. If for some reason they do appear in our life or they are someone whom because of family or some other reason we will have to face, ask in prayer to be shown the way of patience, kindness, tolerance and love toward this individual and to be kept safe in their presence. By saluting the Presence of God within them you will be amazed by the results. To state the Great Teaching once again: simple but not easy, a price has to be paid and that price is the surrendering of self. 

BEYOND THIS FLESH

              Do you know of anyone who remembers the Gettysburg Address because they were there? How about Washington crossing the Delaware? No? Of course not. This flesh we inhabit will one day fail. No amount of money, resources, exercise or just plain “good living” will alter that. This truth raises the eternal question, am I this body or something more? Living on the Spiritual Basis the answer is clear: We are Spiritual beings experiencing the human condition, not Human beings in search of the spiritual. The spark of consciousness that is unique to us is timeless, was never born and will never die; it has always been and always will be. To attempt to grow from without, change the consciousness by artifice only lasts as long as outer conditions remain unchanged, however life has taught us that outer conditions are forever changing. A glance in the mirror or at our investments should provide any further proof required. Lasting change only comes from within, within our consciousness. By raising our consciousness through prayer we effect  permanent change beyond the vagaries of the flesh and secular life. So our job, the only real task in this life, is too practice the Presence of God every day in every area, to fully forgive all who have trespassed against us, to hold fast to the truth that the only thing that translates from this life is our raised consciousness, the one true measure by which the universe judges us being: how much love did we give away, unconditionally.  

SPIRITUAL CAUTION TAPE

           Remember reaping and sowing? What we dwell upon is out pictured in our lives. When morbid reflection raises its head and we allow it to remain in our consciousness (“sowing” the negative thoughts with feeling), we reap the harvest of self centered fear, shutting the door on the sunlight of the spirit, causing us needless wear and tear. When we find ourselves drifting into morbid (negative) thinking we must stop immediately and “quarantine” the trouble by refusing to consider it and invoke, through prayer, the Presence of God where the trouble was. By doing this consistently we break the habit of focusing on the trouble (sowing negativity) and replace it with the habit of recognizing God (sowing truth) where the trouble seems to be. By refocusing we reap peace of mind instead of fear, serenity over confusion. Remember, everything we consider becomes imbued with power in our life, for good or ill, so get out the mental yellow caution tape and tape off destructive thinking, quarantining our troubles with prayer.

HALF MEASURES

           Spiritual half measures avail us nothing. Not a little, not some, zero. Having entered into a secular endeavor half halfheartedly, what was the outcome? Any unfinished “projects” lying around? Exercise equipment serving as a clothes rack or taking up space in the garage, perhaps a shelf full of dusty self help/diet books? On the secular plane we can go to work half halfheartedly and still draw a paycheck, at least for a time. A poorly built deck is still built, a badly painted room still painted. Our spiritual life however requires total commitment, half measures resulting not only in our failure to demonstrate but instilling the false belief that we tried and God didn’t deliver, probably because we are unworthy. Nonsense. NONSENSE. God is source, “Our Father.” We are His children and all the gifts and blessings that relationship represents are ours for the asking but we must ask without reservation, consistent in our prayers, meditations and actions.

       When traveling by sailing ship if all sails are not set there is little progress, the ship left to the mercy of contradictory tides and currents. If only a few sails are set there is some progress, but invariably a stronger influence comes along and blows us off course. When we travel in this manner is it any wonder we never arrive at the port we desire? To progress all sails are set and a firm hand placed on the wheel. We do this by turning to Him in all things, being consistent in practicing the Presence of God in all our affairs. In so doing, regardless of the storm clouds that may be gathering around us, we sail on with peace of heart and the knowledge that ultimately we are protected in His hands and will arrive safe, enlightened by the voyage.

FULLY REALIZED

            Having placed our feet upon the path, embracing the Spiritual Basis of Living, we know today that God is the only power. Having begun to feel His power flow through us, the true meaning of serenity has begun to take hold in our hearts. Our Great Desire is to bring the Good News to all, so that all may be finally and forever free of the selfish desires that have kept us in bondage, so that all may become fully realized, accepting the gifts that are ours by right of our divine heritage. Today we know the Omnipresence of God is working through us, guiding us without error to the undreamt of tomorrow, the Lord’s Prayer the outline, the road map as we trudge the road of happy destiny. Amen.

TEMPTATION CLAUSE

         The Lord’s Prayer suggests that we can be lead into temptation, so the question is: Would God lead us into temptation? Having been taught and shown again and again that God is the giver of only good; God’s love for us greater than a parents love for their child, how could He? Since Living on the Spiritual Basis removes gray areas and contradictions from life, what does this clause really mean?

       Having embraced the Lord’s Prayer the straightforward temptations of lying, cheating, stealing, etc have become obvious and the price paid in serenity if we transgress clear. Having demonstrated over these temptations, the new temptations that beckon us are born of spiritual pride. The natural desire is to bring the good news we have learned to those still suffering, a noble desire to be sure, but fraught with this new kind of danger. Write this upon your heart in capital letters: DO NOT ANSWER THE UNASKED QUESTION.  This is the temptation we are asking God in the Great Prayer to lead us away from. When speaking about spiritual principles we must ask ourselves if we are engaging in attraction or promotion. We will attract those who are ready to learn by our actions, our demonstration of Living on the Spiritual Basis. If we have to sell it, promote it; convince others that they should want what we have, than there is something wrong with our spiritual house. Attraction is the true path; promotion opens the door to the temptations of self glory, self aggrandizement, a sense of superiority and infallibility which are all aspects of spiritual pride. When you consider how many evils have been and are perpetrated by those promoting their beliefs to the extreme, the clause “lead us not into temptation” becomes crystal clear. We must remain ever diligent, and though it may break our heart, we never enter unbidden into another’s spiritual house.

     The converse is true as well. We must be willing to stand and be counted regardless of any perceived earthly consequences, the temptation of self centered fear denied. Whenever or wherever we are presented with an opportunity to share the Good News, the question asked, we must not shrink. 

FORGIVENESS REALIZED

          So, how do we forgive? Pray, the manner of prayer not nearly as important as its location of origin. Did it come from our intellect primarily, because we see the payoff the Law of Forgiveness provides and wish to reap the benefits or from our heart because we truly desire freedom for ourselves and for the offender?

         Consider carefully, if we hold in our hearts even the slightest doubt that the object of our resentment deserves forgiveness than our demonstration will be stunted. Take heart though since prayer will address this as well. Begin by finding a quiet place where you will not be disturbed, then take a few moments to quiet yourself. One method is to take three or four deep breaths, eyes closed, slowly exhaling each. Then quietly ask God to remove from you any anger that still resides in your heart toward the offender, asking to be shown the way of patience, tolerance, kindliness and love, in your life and the offenders. Now that you have quieted yourself, releasing any lingering anger, read or recite out loud any prayer that has particular significance to you, then quietly say that you now forgive completely (offender/offense name), that you desire every good thing that you desire in life to come too theirs as well, and if there is anything that God would have you do to be of service to (offender/offense name) you are willing. Finish with “May I do God’s will always. Amen.”

      IMPORTANT! Do not under any pretense repeat the treatment. If we do we repudiate the demonstration and short circuit our growth. To be clear, the offender/offense will float into our consciousness in a negative way again. When this happens we immediately say a blessing for the offender and turn our thoughts to God. In time we will need to do this less and less. Do not be afraid to offer yourself to be of service, for God will never place us in a position to be harmed, so if you are called to service something truly remarkable will come of it. By obeying the Law of Forgiveness, not only are we set free, but all whose lives we touch improve as well.

CHAINS STRONGER THAN STEEL

         When we harbor resentment, we slowly die spiritually. Fortunately through forgiveness we are reborn. Nurturing resentment binds us to the object of our ire by a mental chain stronger than steel. Holding on to resentment is like having a cut on your arm that never heals. Every time it begins to heal we scratch at it until it bleeds again, pointing it out to any who will listen, reliving the injury. Living in the injury is slow insidious spiritual suicide; we must turn away from our injury and allow it to heal. How? We decide finally and forever to forgive, with God’s help, the cause of the resentment by naming them and asking God to do for them everything good that we wish to have happen in our life. Visualize them receiving God’s grace, His peace upon them. In time a scar will form but resentments are tenacious and our subconscious mind will whisper that perhaps we should scratch it again, just in case. Do not react negatively when these thoughts surface, but turn in prayer immediately and thank God for knowing Him better, that you and the author of the resentment are free. Do not for a moment rehash the memory of the hurt; focus only on seeing the Presence of God where the hurt was. Having just begun incorporating this new way of thinking into our life, eventually it will become second nature, we do not berate ourselves when we discover we have drifted into morbid reflection examining an old scar, instead we quietly turn to God in prayer. As with all things spiritual (and life as well) condemnation stunts growth, so we are always gentle in prayer, especially with ourselves, praying with a “feather.”

OUR CUP OF POISON

          Forgiveness is the key, to everything. Until we understand this, carve it into our heart, no real progress can be made. When we think about it logically this makes perfect sense. Have you ever prayed and then wondered why you did not demonstrate? In order to fully demonstrate we must be free of self-condemnation and remorse, forgiving ourselves, which happens only after we have fully forgiven others, ridding ourselves of all resentment and condemnation toward them. Though repeated ad nauseum, this truth cannot be repeated enough: “simple but not easy, a price has to be paid. That price is the surrendering of self.” Search your heart, in the secret place of your consciousness is there any “justified” anger or old resentment lurking that you feel is warranted for any reason? If so perform an act of forgiveness and mean it. If for any reason we cannot do this, by holding on to old hurts, real and imagined we are essentially raising a cup of poison to our lips, believing that by drinking it we are punishing those we hate/resent. We must put down the cup and forgive today, for our sake.

WILD JUSTICE

          There is a part of me, and I’m pretty sure you have it too, that keeps score, chiming in with its own sense of justice. When someone does something unthinking or illegal while driving the thought pops up of “where is a cop when you need one” or something bad happens to someone we think deserves it and “serves them right” or “they deserved that” crosses our mind. In the same vain occasionally we think we know what’s best and actually wish something bad (serves’em right dontcha know) to befall someone are all examples of self centered thinking, thinking that retards our spiritual growth. It does not matter whether or not the offender rightly deserves to be punished, we can never engage in negative prayer or wishful negative thinking, for to do so invites resentment and morbid reflection to take up residence in our heart. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all our activities, thy will, not mine be done.

         It would be less than honest of me not to acknowledge that when I have been cut off or watched someone do something stupid behind the wheel only to see flashing lights appear, the voice in my mind (sometimes out loud) chimes in with “ALRIGHT” or if something bad befell Osama Bin Laden I probably wouldn’t immediately turn to a prayer of forgiveness. The wild justice of the carnal mind that the Old Testament addresses is alive and well in most of us, certainly in me. So, just for today I will ask for God’s help to pray rightly, to pray that the person driving selfishly arrives safely and all whose path they cross, as well as the offender, are blessed, to leave justice to God and ask to be shown the way of patience, tolerance, kindliness and love, that I stay out of the retribution business, remembering that all are connected in Spirit, that there is a little bit of bad in the best of us and a little bit of good in the worst and it is no longer my job to measure it.

OUR TRUE FACE

         One of the keys to freedom in life is when we finally understand that all sin is rooted in selfishness, born of thinking that we can show the world one face while hiding our true feelings and motives. Somehow we convince ourselves that our thoughts are separate from God, that He does not know what we are thinking, that only when I speak or act would He be aware or even pay attention. In light of what we have learned about the Presence of God, this thinking is weak at best and downright delusional at its worst. The natural outcome of this thinking is to shut us off from the sunlight of the spirit as surely as burying our head in the sand cuts us off from sunlight.

       I need to get a little personal here, so please forgive me. When this truth hit me, it sent me into a tail spin. All those things that I thought I had so neatly hid from God, in truth had been always open to Him. Fortunately I was saved, though new to the path at the time I had learned enough to know that I would be forgiven as soon as I asked, that the only unforgivable sin is to turn ones back on God and deny Him, and that sin is erased as soon as we turn to Him with an open mind and heart. As the truth and import of this rolled over me I found myself on my knees, asking God to remove from me any remaining illusions that there is anything about me that He does not know or is separate from Him.

       This marked the point in my life when “forgive us our trespasses” from the Lord’s Prayer became known to me in my heart. I began to accept His forgiveness in my life that day and the process of understanding how important it is to truly forgive others began. Though this happened years ago, its lesson is as fresh today as then. Shalom. 

OUR TRUE SOURCE 4

          Lamentably many hold to the false idea that they can save up spiritual good will that can be drawn on later to get through some current difficulty. For the life of me I cannot find a spiritual bank in my neighborhood. When pressed on who opened this bank and what’s required to open an account, the usual response is “God and prayer.” When it is pointed out that this runs contrary to the Lord’s Prayer, where we pray for our “daily bread”, they freeze up in much the same way my computer does when I click on too many windows. Prayer has power. We strip the power from them when we pray one way but fail to hold in our heart the essence of the prayer. To pray the Lord’s Prayer but believe that somewhere, somehow we can save up for ourselves spiritually to address future problems strips all meaning from the prayer. If we hold to the belief that we have some form of spiritual savings account, than “daily bread” is unnecessary so why ask for it? The Old Testament first taught this truth when God provided manna for the Israelites following Moses. Those wandering in the wilderness were told that heaven would provide for their daily needs but on no account were they to save or horde it for what was dynamic today would turn inedible, even poisonous tomorrow. Having been honest, selfless, loving and forthright yesterday means nothing if today we are dishonest, selfish, hateful or devious. Living on yesterday’s demonstrations; even though they provide valuable experience, leads to futility and failure. Today is the day to demonstrate God’s presence, doing so we receive Our Daily Bread.

OUR TRUE SOURCE 3

            “The longest 18 inches in the world is the distance between our head and our heart.”  So many speak of God and spiritual principles with intellectual assent believing that talking about the Presence of God is akin to practicing it. This is like believing that looking at a meal, discussing it, dissecting it intellectually is the same thing as eating it. Clearly no stomach has ever been filled looking at or talking about food, just as an intellectual understanding of God has never answered a single prayer. “When the heart speaks the heart listens.” No one can eat a meal for us.  No one can practice the Presence of God in our life for us. God is not a concept, an aspect to be discussed politely with little or no feeling or personal commitment. To “Claim our daily bread” God cannot be intellectual, but must become practical.

OUR TRUE SOURCE 2

     When we place our trust in supply from anything or anyone other than God we are sure to be left wanting. There are many avenues that provide our supply, employers, a business, investments, if times are tough perhaps the government for a time, but all are simply temporary channels. In all our lives these channels alter and change over the course of living, but the headwaters, the true source remains constant. The Great Carpenter taught in the Lord’s Prayer that God would provide our “daily bread”, that “our daily bread signifies the realization of the Presence of God-an actual sense that God exists not merely in a nominal way, but as the great reality” that God “Our Father” is the only source. 

OUR TRUE SOURCE 1

        When the term “bread” is used in the Bible it represents all that we require to live, not just food. In the Lord’s Prayer we ask God to give us our daily bread. Once we have set our feet on the path of enlightenment, embracing the Spiritual Basis for Living, the source of everything becomes clear. Jobs, family, inheritance, investments and any of a hundred other channels are but ways that God employs to provide our daily “bread.” As we now know, once we begin living on the Spiritual Basis, relying on infinite God rather than our finite self, when one channel dries up another opens, God alone our source, the fountainhead of all our good.

SORTA, KINDA, MAYBE

          Our greatest gift, free will, which which makes us unique among all God’s creations, is also mankind’s curse upon its self. Every criminal or evil act, whether committed by an individual or nation, has its root in selfish self centered thinking and fear. By turning our back on God, choosing the finite over the infinite, failing to be about “Our Father’s” business, choosing to ignore the Golden Rule, we open ourselves to all forms of poverty, sickness, sin, trouble, even death on the physical plane. “God is either everything or else He is nothing.” No middle ground, no gradations, no sorta kinda maybes; you are either all in or all out. The choice is ours. Free will. Choose wisely.

FREE WILL

       “God has a plan for every man, and he has one for you”, that plan is your “Heart’s Desire.”  Our only real job in this life is to identify our Heart’s Desire, placing the full weight of our consciousness to this task. Emmet Fox writes: “If you only can find out that one thing that God intends you to do, and will do it, you will find that all doors will open to you, and you will be gloriously happy.” What sets man apart from all of the rest of God’s creatures is free will; we choose the path we walk. The Zebra, the Dolphin and the Eagle are born, live and die fully expressing their essential nature, never questioning their purpose or concerned with being anything other than what they are. Only man creates, strives to be more and know more because of our unique relationship to God, since God is in fact “Our Father” in every sense.

PUNISHING GOD

         Many believe that God brings sickness, trouble, accidents even death as punishment or to teach a lesson. The Christ teaching exposes the false nature of this belief.  When we name something we define its nature, so what is the nature of God? Consider the following teaching from the Bible: The same fountain cannot send forth both sweet and bitter water. Would we not have to be schizophrenic to ask for help, direction, healing and intuitive thinking from a power greater than ourselves that professes love, but could turn on a dime and bring us pain, suffering, even death? Emmet Fox states “The word hallowed has the same root as holy, whole, wholesome, and heal, or healed; so we see that nature of God is complete and perfect-altogether good.”

       When we hold to the idea that God punishes, for any reason, we build in our consciousness a back door for self centered fear to sneak in and strangle our faith. Pain in living is not optional, neither is death. Everything and everyone, from stars in the night sky to the may fly will experience the change we identify as death. The death of a loved one, especially a child is heart breaking, but God was not responsible for in truth our loved ones, and us are not this flesh, for it will fail and return to the earth from which it came. Our “soul”, the spark of the Divine within each of us, is eternal, was never born and will never die, has always been and will always be, just as God. The Lord’s Prayer names God as “Our Father”, and is not the child always connected to, a product of, the parent? Do not allow the fear and pain of the moment to convince you that God is punishing you, for nothing could be further from the truth of being.

“OUR FATHER”

        The concept of Heaven, as the Carpenter taught in the Lord‘s Prayer, manifests as we raise our consciousness through prayer, meditation and selfless service to others, unfolding around us. In truth, all spiritual action is predicated on our relationship with and to God, for God is Perfect Cause and expresses Himself by means of man, for He is the Father, and we are the children, divine by birth.

        Before our heart began to beat, where were we? With God. As our heart began to beat, where was God? With us. When our heart ceases to beat, where will we be? With God. The purpose is the journey, the lessons immaculate, our relationship fixed, God the Father the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, only our perceptions altered.

ULTIMATE CONNECTION

         As we embrace the true significance of “Our Father” it finally becomes clear that when we pray, our prayers are never solely for us alone but for all mankind, everything and everyone connected. All that we wish to have in our lives we must also desire with all our hearts to come to our brothers and sisters in equal measure. To hold our brother in contempt or beyond the pale is too say we know better than God. Leave retribution and resentment outside the door of your heart and embrace “Our Father” not only for our own sake, but all mankind.

GOD’S CHOSEN

       

           The Lord’s Prayer begins, “Our Father” not my father or your father, but Our Father. This ground breaking truth ends the false belief, that many still cling to unfortunately, that God plays favorites. No individual, no group, no race, no class, no color holds a preferred or special place with God. He is the Father of all, regardless of race, creed, location or belief, All loved equally and unconditionally. Period. Imagine for a moment if this monumental truth was universally understood. “What tree is so unwise as too fight among its own branches.” Sectarian violence would end. Wars and disputes over territory nonexistent. All who have would rush to help those who want without any reservations or conditions. The Golden Rule; much talked about, rarely employed, would become the Law, the only Law. Consider for a moment what could be accomplished by humanity if we stopped wasting lives, time and resources on all things contrary to the Golden Rule. The Great Carpenter taught that heaven is not a destination, but that we live in it now. Clearly we have had the key to unleash Heaven in our hands for two thousand years, how much longer will we allow false belief and fear to stay our hand from turning it? Let there be Peace and let it begin with me.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

        Said: “My religion is summed up in the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer.” “Our Father.” What a gift the truth is and we don’t have to look far to find it. It begins here with the first clause of the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father.” Of course there will always be the exceptions that make the headlines but aren’t we truly at our best when our children are involved? The concept of a cruel and despotic ruler of the Heavens imbued with all the evil and capricious tendencies that humans unfortunately have shown when placed in a position of ultimate authority is destroyed finally and forever by this simple and revolutionary truth about our relationship with God, “Our Father”. As the Great Carpenter teaches: If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matthew 7:11).