I Don't Know

We have all had “miracles” happen in our lives. That time we needed money and the phone rang or a letter arrived and source was provided. We were thinking about someone and again the phone rang and it was either them or someone who knew of them, bringing unprompted news or we turned a corner and there they were. We find ourselves facing a difficulty and it either fades away or turns into something positive.

Are these occurrences “an answer to a prayer” or simply “coincidence?” It matters little, for Coincidence is just God working anonymously. Perhaps the most difficult part of this is why sometimes it happens and other times not. Those times when the person remained an enigma or that which we deemed needed did not appear, a prayer seemingly unheard or worse ignored. In looking back on my life, inventorying the past with raised consciousness, many of the things I thought I needed in the moment turned out to be the last thing I needed, had I received them, my spiritual development would have been delayed or even derailed. As our consciousness rises, our spiritual vision corrects and clears. However even with corrected vision, some questions are beyond our limited sight, remaining unfathomable, at this time. Why does one child miraculously recover from a serious illness and another succumb? Or someone who worked hard all their lives, played by all of society’s rules only to find all they worked for gone through no fault of their own. I don’t know. Perhaps when this flesh fails and we are launched into eternity the answers will become known.

In Faith and Truth, God only brings good, He does not, cannot bring suffering or strife for God and Good are synonymous. Today my spiritual vision is longer and clearer than yesterday, if you prayed and meditated today so is yours. We see the world through a new pair of glasses, our understanding broadened, our empathy revealed, the path illuminated a little more. Even so, I still have no good answers in the moment for those experiencing seemingly inexplicable calamity, only a shoulder, a quiet ear and a silent prayer. Since flesh is ephemeral, perhaps that is the answer after all.


 ACIM, Zen, Wayne Dyer, The Secret, Road Less Traveled, a new pair of glasses,

Miracles And A Flat Earth

MIRACLE n. 1. An act or event that seems to transcend or contradict all known natural or scientific laws and is usually thought to be supernatural in origin. 2. Any wonderful or amazing thing, fact, or event; a wonder.

God does not break cosmic law. The laws of retribution, of unintended consequence, of reaping and sowing, of attraction, of intention, of gravity, and like begets like are never broken or contradicted. Our limited (human) ability to comprehend may leave us with the impression that miracles seemingly break these laws, but this is false. What happens is that by raising ones consciousness into His presence a higher law is tapped, transcending the lower. In the secular sense think of it as appealing a judgment from a lower court to a higher, if a judgment is reversed, the reversal is based on some missed, overlooked or ignored precedent, not a rewriting of the code (at least that is how it is supposed to work).  Secular appeals progress through the system, ultimately arriving at the court of final appeal, the Supreme Court. Supreme Court decisions, since it is populated with humans who can be and often are contradictory in their actions and thinking, can be arbitrary in interpreting secular law, God is not. Cosmic law is applied equally, for God does not, cannot play favorites, His Love abundant and equally weighed to all His children.

Not all that long ago the accepted orthodoxy was that the earth was flat and the center of the universe and anyone who disagreed branded a heretic, suffering greatly for voicing a dissenting view. Yet regardless of how many times the accepted orthodoxy has been shown in error, every age continues to believe they have the answers, the laws of the universe understood, humankind's hubris on display. Years from now our future selves will look back on this time in much the same way we look back on those "scientific laws" that held the earth was flat or man would never fly or stand on the moon, with the same incredulity.

Without miracles, our appeal to higher law, how could there be faith? The performing of miracles demonstrates a level of our Fathers love and law, that here to fore had not been known or can be scientifically quantified with our limited human mind. Miracles can, have and do happen, a higher law beyond our limited understanding accessed, the supernatural transcending the natural. No? How’s that whole flat earth thing working out?




 ACIM, Alanon, Baba Ram Dass, Emmet Fox, metaphysics, ODAAT, Sober Living By The Sea

IN BUT NOT OF

            Reborn is the only term that accurately states the truth of Living on the Spiritual Basis. Day by day, step by step as we develop spiritually the old “man” dies and the new emerges. As with all births there is pain and discomfort along the way, quickly forgotten as the fresh new face emerges into the light of our consciousness. For those blessed with children there is probably no more peaceful or powerful moment in our lives than when we first held our newborn child. This same peace is visited upon us as our awareness and conscious contact with Source builds and grows, as we move from being in the world to being of the world, moving from the finite to the infinite, becoming a light of awareness and serenity, a beacon of hope. Is there any greater miracle?

The Zen of Bacon Avocado Cheeseburgers

We have decided to make a change in our lives. Perhaps it is quitting smoking. We throw away our smokes (or smoke them up) and announce we are now a non-smoker. What changed? If I just polished off a bacon avocado cheeseburger and then announce myself a vegetarian, am I? If I have a room full of exercise equipment or paid up gym membership does it mean I am physically fit? The question is demonstration versus intention. Our intentions may be noble, but nothing happens until we take action and follow through. The question is: what course of action should we follow to be successful.

Change is a process; the new man is not born in a day. Wayne Dyer writes in The Power Of Intention: When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. Embrace this spiritual truth and think from the end. While still smoking, see yourself free of cigarettes, not as someone “trying” to quit. You have either quit or you haven’t, trying is destined to fail for who wants to “try” hard things like quitting smoking when there are easy things like smoking. If you are persistent, soon the smoke free “new man” (or woman) you have built in your consciousness will emerge and you will be free of cigarettes. You did not quit smoking; you simply outgrew it. Think of it this way: when children we did not know that the last time we played hide and seek or made mud pies or built a fort was the last time, it just was. We could have made more pies or forts or organized a round of hide and seek, but we didn’t and we didn’t think about it, it just happened naturally, part of growing up, without thought on our part.

If getting fit is the desire, do not start by making “deals” with yourself or picking a time or date to start. Instead, before the first sit-up or minute on the elliptical, start by seeing yourself exercising in your minds eye, visualize yourself exercising everyday; picture your body as it will look after exercise, do this every day, throughout the day. Soon the urge to exercise will become overwhelming, as long as you refrain from negative out picturing (if 50 you will never look 20 again) and defeatist thinking (how hard it will be, pain, etc).

Train yourself to think from the end. Like any new activity, at first it will feel clumsy and unfamiliar. If you persist, it will become second nature, like riding a bike. Intention is the vision; you must provide the conditions within your consciousness for the ultimate success of your demonstration.

Oh, bacon avocado cheeseburgers? Don’t be silly; they are the food of the Gods.

Lucy Van Pelt is not God

Do you believe God wants you to succeed?  Or do you harbor some lingering belief that God is a trickster waiting to punish or harm you, to pull the rug out from under you to make a point? If we are children of Divine Mind, extensions in Spirit of the miraculous, than God is not Lucy van Pelt holding a football. Unlike Lucy, God always holds the football steady and wants us, encourages us to kick it as hard as we can, to succeed in every area of life and living. Fear however often holds us back to the point of approaching the ball with trepidation or worse walking off the field without even attempting a kick, fear triumphant. Though perhaps trembling, run as hard as you can, trusting in God and kick the ball with all your might for God is not like Lucy, though she may think so, now Linus…

Law Of Being

“With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:2). There is nothing new under the sun. The Secret (Law of Attraction) and The Power of Intention are two of the latest variations on the reaping and sowing truth. The Carpenter codified the lesson but it was known long before Jesus changed the world. This teaching comprises the whole of the Law of Being and once we have truly learned it, the keys to the kingdom are in our hands. To wit:

To be respected, be respectful toward all, especially those who may not deserve it, for it is our demonstration, our serenity at stake, not the other person‘s.

To experience God’s love, demonstrate love toward all. Love and like are not the same thing, and though we may strongly disagree with or find another’s actions beyond the pale, we must salute the spirit of the divine within, for they are a child of God as well and we must stay willing to be of service if asked, like of no importance.

To be abundant, we must refuse all thoughts and talk of shortage or lack. Living on the Spiritual Basis, we now know that words and thoughts are causative. The things we say and ruminate on will find outsourcing in our lives, so we focus only on what we wish to have out pictured in our lives, turning from the negative to the positive as soon as we become aware, for thoughts are elusive.

For peace to manifest in our life, we cannot speak or think of conflict. If we plot attacks of any kind, we will find a reason to launch one. Nations war for many reasons, we cannot countenance conflict in our lives for any reason, if peace of soul and mind is desired.

Humility comes from being humble, and we are humbled by the realization of God’s grace.

If I treat you in a manner I would find objectionable if the same treatment was meted out to me, for any justification, I am wrong. For "With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again."

Simple but not easy, requiring nothing less everything we are, surrendered in Spirit, willing to go to any lengths for our ultimate awakening.

Our Music

   “Do not die with your music in you.” That feeling of dissatisfaction, the sense of something missing in life is God quietly but insistently attempting to get our attention. Your Heart’s Desire will never cease trying to assert it’s self into the forefront of your consciousness. We will never be truly happy or fulfilled until we listen.  Remember our true state of being:

We are not human beings in search of the miraculous, a spiritual awakening; we are spiritual beings experiencing the human condition.

There is a reason for each of us being here, now. Our Heart’s Desire, God's desire for us, is that reason.

Hypocrisy And Forrest Gump

“Handsome is as handsome does.” Sounds a bit Forrest Gump-ish but it fit’s the bill. Many wish to enjoy a certain reputation they know in their heart they don’t deserve. The ill-tempered person may indeed wish to be loved and favored but their very actions make it impossible. How often have we heard a friend or acquaintance (or even ourselves) attempt to sell the idea that even though someone is acting or has acted badly they really meant well, are basically nice people, having a heart of gold. Nonsense: Handsome is as handsome does. Living on the Spiritual Basis our serenity is measured by our actions. We must walk the way we talk or risk suffering mightily at the hands of hypocrisy. We can wish to be spiritual, we can wish for peace, we can wish to be happy, joyous and free but unless our actions match up with our wishes, we will never demonstrate our hearts desire.

In Truth, Gently

       Words have meaning. Sounds like a “duh” kinda thing to say but bear (or is it bare?) with me. Many speak of spirituality and God, of our connection to the “Father” and how God is everywhere, at all times, always available, wanting to and will solve all our problems if we will only trust in Him, immanent. Yet they live at odds to these genuinely voiced beliefs, instead trusting in the world and man by their actions. Belief is only theory, a nice thought or sentiment unless demonstrated in action. We cause ourselves much needless discomfort and pain when we fail to walk the way we talk.

      So pray expecting to receive, banishing the idea that prayer is simply a tool employed to weather the storm, to buck up our spirits, but is in truth a direct plea to God. Understanding our good thoughts and intentions are meaningless unless we are willing to step out in faith and fly our flag as believers for all to see, losing our fear of the negative judgments that will be cast our way, for it is always easier to criticize and denigrate, for who is without blemish? than to stand in the light and be counted, so many wish to breathe free but choose to remain stifled for fear of ridicule or to curry favor.

    Words have meaning, and we must mean the words we use, otherwise we suffer greatly at the hands of the adversary free floating fear. When we speak without conviction our being becomes lost in polite sentiment, in affirmations routinely recited with little feeling or honest belief, our prayers said with no real expectation of relief. To thine ownself be true, so pray from the heart, expect to receive a miracle for we live in an age of miracles, measure your words and strive each day to walk the way you talk. No one among us does this perfectly, and though perhaps trembling, what matters is that we do it to the best of our ability today, for today is truly all we have.

The Fourth Man

          There is a story in the Old Testament concerning three men who refused to worship a golden image erected by King Nebuchadnezzar. The king was so incensed by their refusal he sentenced them to die in a fiery furnace. This furnace was so hot their guards died in the process of casting them in. As the King watched, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were joined in the furnace by a fourth man. Soon the three emerged from the furnace, unharmed, delivered because they had refused to sacrifice their belief, holding fast to God, the fourth presence in the furnace. The king was so moved he converted on the spot.

         We all face trials and difficulties in our lives, our “fiery furnace.” Having chosen to Live on the Spiritual Basis, by holding fast to a power greater than ourselves, the fourth man stands with us, keeping us unharmed, regardless of how intense the fire appears to be. 

Our Perfection Realized

      What is perfection? A child’s laugh, a spring day, the family gathered together for the holidays, a content cat, chocolate, all of these things and infinitely more may be perfect but only in the most subjective way; i.e. in the “eye of the beholder.” Forms of non-subjective perfection; a “perfect” game in baseball, a spade royal flush, prime numbers or scoring a “100” on a test come to mind. Descartes held “existence itself is perfection”, which extrapolated could lead one down the path of “everything” being perfect. So clearly perfection can be often perfectly obscure.

        So what then is “spiritual” perfection? And what flawed individual could ever hope to attain it? No one among us has lived or is living life perfectly. Spiritual perfection is not living perfectly but holding to the perfection of God. I can’t, but He can. Living on the Spiritual Basis we have learned that all are connected in spirit, the eternal spark of the divine existing in each of us regardless of station or circumstance, all equal in His eyes, Our Father’s love, perfect; beyond time and flesh. So by a wholehearted commitment, day by day, to grow in understanding and service to Our Father, we approach “perfection.” Though this flesh, this life, will never be perfect our pursuit and demonstration of faith, though trembling, can be.

Wings Of Destiny

         “The truth will set you free.”  Ever watch a bird floating on a current of air or with practiced grace winging its way with no regard to speed limits, stop lights or any other man-made impediment to travel, and thought how cool it would be to fly. How much more interesting the world becomes when we achieve a little height in our point of view, all the ground level restrictions gone, what was out of sight comes into view as we soar above it. We soar spiritually when we embrace the Great Reality, that we are the children of God, in fact and deed, limited only by fear. To soar we seek God first, saluting the divine in all our brothers and sisters, seeking to express our innate divinity, quietly, in all our affairs. As we Live on the Spiritual Basis day by day, our point of view changes, what was once hidden comes into view, becoming more distinct as our vision sharpens, though we are soaring ever higher. So we place our trust in God, claim our wings and soar the heights of happy destiny.

SERENITY

 “We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.” 

Serenity: calm and untroubled: without worry, stress, or disturbance.

Consider a world where this is operative. A thing worth fighting for, no? Fighting for serenity, now there is a fight worth picking, the only fight that truly matters and we fight it by ceasing to fight everything and everyone. It begins with each of us, the path and process clear, requiring the ultimate sacrifice, the surrendering of self, our sacred cows and belief that altering outside conditions, while leaving the inner untouched, is anything less than madness. We choose, just for today, to Live on the Spiritual Basis, practicing the principles to the best of our current ability and understanding in this moment, for when we begin to comprehend serenity we become the true peacemakers, achieving not only peace of soul for ourselves, but ultimately for all.

Battle Plans And Weather Forecasts

Demonstration versus theory. Generals create battle plans, their theory on how the battle should be fought and won. Politicians have theories on everything, usually with little or no actual experience to balance their opinion. Economists are quick to theorize, usually poorly. Meteorologists and climatologists put forth theories daily, calling them forecasts, and we have all experienced their accuracy. Although we don’t usually think of it in this way, we all have theories about everything in our lives. Raising children, dealing with in-laws, how to get a job, keep a job, get ahead at work, diet, why our team is doing well/poorly etc. When we chat about the reasons why something happened, or didn’t, what we think is going to happen or some action to take, we are floating theories. Theories based on experience typically have value, while theories based on no more than wishful thinking are hot air until implemented, the consequences realized, truth demonstrated. Truth is never subjective and often stark in its reality. If the local weather prognosticators get it wrong, the truth is typically no more painful than a ruined picnic or carrying an umbrella on a sunny day. General’s theories, battle plans, which go badly, can result not only in death but in unintended reshaping of the map. Economists theories should be placed in the newspaper next to horoscopes, unfortunately decisions effecting everyone are based on their theories, were if my horoscope is wrong it won’t possibly put thousands of people out of work or raise taxes. Politicians and the price of demonstration for their theories? Examples can be found daily on the front page of any paper or leading the nightly news, the truth demonstrated.

The world will take care of it’s self, it always has. Man has been trying to bend it to his will forever with little success. Focus on the only thing that can truly change the world for the better, your spiritual life, your connection to the miraculous. Meditate and pray regularly, don’t struggle, pray with a feather and approach meditation with joy and excitement. If this is a problem, than pray on it! A good beginning meditation is contemplating patience, tolerance, kindliness and love in your life and towards the whole planet. Concerned about praying in the right way? Than ask to be shown, in prayer, how to pray correctly. Keep it simple. Read, every day, for a few minutes any book that raises your consciousness. Stop theorizing about truth and practice it, remembering to be as gentle with yourself as you are with a newborn and surrender those battle plans, for we have ceased fighting everyone and everything, we have to.

Flat Earth and Miracles

MIRACLE n. 1. An act or event that seems to transcend or contradict all known natural or scientific laws and is usually thought to be supernatural in origin. 2. Any wonderful or amazing thing, fact, or event; a wonder.

God does not break cosmic law. The laws of retribution, of unintended consequence, of reaping and sowing, of attraction, of intention, of gravity, and like begets like and others are never broken or contradicted. Our limited (human) ability to comprehend may leave us with the impression that miracles seemingly break these laws, but this is false. What happens is that by raising ones consciousness a higher law is tapped, transcending the lower. In the secular sense think of it as appealing a judgment from a lower court to a higher, if a judgment is reversed, the reversal is based on some missed, overlooked or ignored precedent, not a rewriting of the code (at least that is how it is supposed to work).  Secular appeals progress through a system, ultimately arriving at the court of final appeal, the Supreme Court. Supreme Court decisions, since it is populated by humans who can be and often are contradictory in their actions and thinking, can be arbitrary in interpreting secular law, God is many things, but never arbitrary. Cosmic law is applied equally, for God does not, cannot play favorites, His Love abundant and equally weighed to all His children.

 Not long ago, the accepted orthodoxy was that the earth was flat, the center of the universe and anyone who disagreed branded a heretic, suffering greatly for voicing a dissenting view. Curious isn’t how we continue to believe that we have the answers, the laws of the universe understood, our hubris on display. Years from now our future selves will look back on this time in much the same way we look back on those who once held the earth was flat, with the same incredulity.

Without miracles, our appeal to higher law, how could there be faith? By performing  miracles God demonstrates a level of love and law that here to fore had not been known. Miracles can, have and do happen, a higher law beyond our limited understanding accessed. What is required of us to raise our consciousness? Heartfelt prayer and patience. Don’t think so? How’s that whole flat earth thing working out?

Working Anonymously

We have all had “miracles” happen in our lives. That time we needed money and the phone rang or a letter arrived and source was provided. We were thinking about someone and the phone rang and it was either them or someone who knew of them, bringing unprompted news or we turned a corner and there they were. We find ourselves facing a difficulty and it either fades away or turns into something positive.

Are these occurrences “an answer to a prayer” or simply “coincidence?” It matters little, for Coincidence is just God working anonymously. Perhaps the most difficult part of this is why sometimes it happens and other times not. Those times when the person remained an enigma or that which we deemed needed did not appear, a prayer seemingly ignored. In looking back on my life, inventorying the past with raised consciousness, many of the things I thought I needed in the moment turned out to be the last thing I needed, had I received them, my spiritual development would have been delayed or even derailed. As our consciousness rises, our spiritual vision corrects and clears, however even with corrected vision, some questions are beyond our sight, remaining unfathomable at this time. Why does one child miraculously recover and another succumb? Or someone who worked hard all their lives, played by all of society’s rules and find all they worked for gone? I don’t know. Perhaps when this flesh fails and we are launched into eternity, the answers will become known.

In Faith and Truth, God only brings good, He does not, cannot bring suffering or strife.  Today my spiritual vision is longer and clearer than yesterday, if you prayed and meditated today so is yours. We see the world through a new pair of glasses, our understanding broadened, our empathy revealed, the path illuminated. Even so, I still have no good answers in the moment for those experiencing seemingly inexplicable calamity, only a shoulder, a quiet ear and a silent prayer. Perhaps that is the answer after all. 

Tithe With Joy

Looked at a dollar bill lately? Go get one, I’ll wait…now, look on the reverse, it states: “In God We Trust.” The question is, do we? When we tithe out of fear or from a grudging sense of obligation, we miss the point of the tithe. We are better off building on our understanding of Spiritual Truth than to give in this way. The core lesson of tithing is to affirm through demonstration that we not only intellectually grasp the concept of true source, but also hold it in our heart. When tithing thank God for knowing Him better, certain in the knowledge that we are all connected in Spirit, always reaping as we sow, so plant with joy.

Speeding and the Law Of Limitation

Most understand secular law, break one and get caught; there is a price to pay. Whether it is traffic, criminal, business, tax etc a secular price will be exacted if we transgress and get “caught.” There is a higher set of laws however were a price is always exacted, they are Cosmic Laws. And unlike man’s laws they are enforced impersonally, rich or poor, personal beliefs, status or skin color of no regard. Additionally unlike secular law they cannot be appealed to or superseded by judicial fiat. Think Law of Gravity. No one in his or her right mind would step off a ledge and expect to float to the ground. Yet many do exactly that with the Law of Limitation! And unlike gravity we place it on ourselves! Every time we think “I’m too old/young to…” “I’ll never be any good or successful at…” “I love doing ____ but I could never make a living at it” “What would my friends/spouse/children/family think if I…” “I know God loves me and wants me to prosper, but…” we invoke the Law of Limitation.

The good news is unlike gravity, since we invoke the law ourselves; we can repeal it as well. How? By stepping out in faith. Our heart is constantly speaking to us, that still quiet voice the voice of God Himself. Divine Life wants each and every one of us to be Happy, Joyous and Free, so when we resist giving in to self-centered fear by trusting the Miraculous, demonstrating faith, we avoid invoking the Law of Limitation.

Taking A Trip, Not Taking A Trip

When we travel down the road of negativity we invariably arrive at morbid reflection. Morbid reflection then opens the door to indignation, self-righteousness, fear, hateful and/or angry words and thoughts, invariably leaving us holding a cup of spiritual distress for we always reap as we sow. Few situations in life are ever strictly black and white. When we condemn others we attempt, but fail, to overwrite the truth that there is a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of bad in the best, no one is without sin, none of us live life error free. Remember “Living life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning to play the instrument as we go along” naked, so cut them and yourself a little slack.

So when you find yourself in morbid reflection-ville, and we all do from time to time, gently turn around in prayer and head back out of town by recognizing the Presence of God where the disharmony, negativity resides; asking in meditation to be shown the way of patience, tolerance, kindliness and love, saluting the Divine Spark that resides within every one of our Father’s children.

It would be easy to end here, but an additional point needs to be made. We can and in truth must salute the Divine within all, but this does not mean we must continue to associate with or place ourselves in a position to be harmed by someone who wishes us ill. Our heartfelt hope and desire is that all will grow spiritually, embracing the path of peace and comprehending serenity, unfortunately not everyone will and for them as for us to change and grow, the desire must come from within. So release them with love and remember the old Scottish (James Kelly) proverb: “He that deceives me once; shame fall him; if he deceives me twice, shame fall me.” So trust in God, but cut the cards.

God and Hot Dogs

The secular world clamors with solutions to all our problems and concerns. Call this number and all your financial difficulties will vanish, take this pill, not the other one, and your problem is solved, there is even a pill to cut down on bathroom trips and it seems that all middle aged men need to take a little something in order to be intimate, if the number and frequency of ads is any indication. Do not misunderstand, all of these things, probably, have their place, it is the order of approach that is at question. When we began living on the Spiritual Basis we altered our approach to life. Today when an issue or problem arises instead of tackling it head on, setting to work on it, seeking solutions and answers on our own or conversely running away or burying our head in the sand, we turn to the Miraculous and seek Divine help and direction first.

We accomplish this by stepping out in faith, realizing the Presence of God as our first step, and then whatever action indicated will be taken surrounded by Gods love. To Live on the Spiritual Basis means we have turned our will and our lives over to the care of God, it doesn’t mean that we withdraw from life or eschew the secular, since the Universe provides answers and solutions in all manner of ways ordinary and extra ordinary alike. Remember, the power we have tapped into is not limited by human perspective and fear; it routinely performs the seemingly impossible, even miraculous if, though perhaps trembling, we stand open and willing. To borrow from an old Hebrew National hotdog commercial: today “We answer to a higher authority” and that authority wants all His children to be at peace; happy, joyous and free.