NO FRAKKING BRIDGE

          We are constantly treating everything in our lives by our thinking, if we believe we are defeated, we are. We are asking for failure if we believe in failure, we are treating for MORE failure, even though we are praying, haltingly, for success. How can that be, no one wants to fail, because we pray but spend the rest of the day entertaining negative fearful thoughts. “As a man thinketh.” What we dwell on, spend our time reflecting on, we manifest in our lives, Period. We will never manifest peace, prosperity, health and happiness in our lives if we continue to focus on strife, lack, sickness and sadness. All prayers are heard, but when we ask not really believing, for any reason, the prayer will be answered in the manner asked; our lack of faith rewarded. When we feel even the slightest twinge of doubt, stop and treat the doubt with prayer before praying further! We do not allow ourselves the illusion that by pretending it is not there deals with it. So we pray with all our heart and expect to receive, but we don’t limit God by outlining in our mind how we think our prayers should be answered. When outlining we stifle God’s will, were so fixed looking in one direction we overlook anything that doesn‘t fit our will. Trust God’s unlimited vision and refuse to be limited by outlining.

          Perhaps a visualization that has helped me will help you with the demonstration: Indiana Jones is on the brink of finding the Holy Grail. He has surmounted difficulties that were monumental to reach this point but now finds he is looking at a chasm that appears impossible to cross. He opens his book looking for inspiration and reads “Step out in faith.” Closing his eyes, with fear and trepidation, he steps out into space and discovers the bridge had always been there, he just couldn’t see it. Faith is like that. Trust in God and refuse to entertain the inner voice screaming: Are you nuts! There’s no frakking bridge!

ILL HEALTH, AS A WAY OF LIFE

Emotion is your friend. Get overly emotional about everything. Be outraged not only at perceived slights directed at you but at everyone else, even strangers.

Drink lots of caffeine and energy drinks. So what if it makes it hard to sleep. Sleep and rest are overrated anyway. Besides you’ll get plenty of sleep when dead.

Eat anything that is quick and easy. Food is food and time is precious. What is more important, eating or working, texting, blogging, chatting, reality TV, online poker, partying etc? The body may be a temple, but it is your temple so decorate it anyway you want.

Vitamins are expensive, and some say they really don’t work anyway, so they are a waste of money.

Stay busy. Even when “relaxing” do something constructive. God forbid you take any down time.

Avoid prayer and meditation, religiously.

Never walk if you can ride.

You will always have time to exercise later, when you have more time.

When you do get sick, make sure you research the condition at length. Speak of your malady with everyone (make sure you rehearse your speech, don’t want to leave anything out) and listen intently when they in turn share their experiences, especially the negative ones to see how they may apply to you.

Never follow a Doctor’s advice completely, it’s your body and who knows better what’s good for it than you.

And never, ever, turn to God in anything.

RECIPE FOR NO GROWTH

             Watch for trends and as soon as a new one starts, jump on board. It doesn’t matter whether or not the trend appeals to you, just that you follow it as soon as possible, since you must be on the cutting edge. Be the first to read the latest self help book and waste no time in telling everyone how life changing it is, of course always with an ear to the ground for the next book. Be sure to belittle and condescending to those who don’t share your beliefs, even if you aren’t sure what they are this week, since you know in your heart of hearts that they really are against you and will pull you down if given the chance.  Become a master of the backhanded compliment, point out the faults of absent “friends” or anyone you perceive as more successful than you since your wit demands to be shared and appreciated. Always have the answer, never mind those pesky details or facts. And above all crow endlessly on your ability to always get the best price. Let your pride shine brightly when recounting how you always get the best deal, how you are a master of the cheap. Keep up appearances at all costs, standing proudly on your dignity because clearly you are the master of your life, having all the answers, no spiritual assistance needed or required.

RECIPE FOR FAILURE

          Be sanctimonious. Pride yourself on being the perpetual devil’s advocate; always pointing out why something will never work, reveling in the potential pitfalls. Be sure to inject yourself into every conversation whether invited or not because you are providing an invaluable service. Develop your genius for predicting the worst at every turn. Have no focus in life. Spend your time gossiping whether in person or by endless blogging and texting about meaningless things, never missing an opportunity to point out the negative. Watch reality TV religiously and become emotionally involved. Trust in blind luck, every failure affirming your belief that life really is a crap shoot, and you just are unlucky. And by all means never step out in faith, trusting in God, asking for help and guidance

RECIPE FOR UNHAPPINESS

          Reflect morbidly. Worry about everything. Tell yourself that time is running out and you aren’t getting any younger. Inventory all those times you zigged when you should have zagged. Visualize all the people who have ever mistreated you and relive the experience. Worry about your health. Go online and search medical databases to diagnose  any ache or pain you have and what it might be a symptom of. Money. Have some? Will it be enough, will it last, what if some crook in a suit finds a way to steal it? Don’t have much? How will you get more? What if you don’t? Whatever your financial condition, dwell on all the possible negative outcomes. In short, think about yourself, relentlessly. Do not let any thoughts of God or good dissuade you from your mission and you are sure to be successful at being unhappy.

EMPTY CUPBOARD

          God doesn’t break cosmic law, to do so would establish favoritism. No one stands above another before God, all being loved equally. Most of us, unfortunately, go through life by self propulsion until some hardship befalls. Being nominal believers we turn to prayer in desperation and fear, asking for help. Now if we are loved by God, a love even greater than a parent has for their child, why does God seemingly not answer or as many have said “God answers all prayers, just sometimes the answer is no?”

         Consider a fast food restaurant. We pull up to the speaker/microphone, place our order, drive up to the window and get our food. Oh, that’s right; we have to pay for the food before it is handed to us. What happens if we lack sufficient funds? No food, we go hungry. The person holding our order may love us and want with all their heart to give us the food since clearly we are hungry, in need of relief, but they cannot. To do so would be unfair to everyone else; other customers, fellow employees, the restaurant owner, share holders and the community at large would suffer, because if we get free food, why shouldn’t everyone? Providing something for nothing, based only on emotion, inevitably leads to anarchy, suffering and lack immanent.

         God never says “no”, but He never will or even can answer a prayer that will give prosperity to one if it brings poverty to another, peace to one by causing turmoil to another. To do so breaks cosmic law, and since He is the author of the law, He never breaks it. All prayers are answered in the positive, but often because we have certain expectations, based in self, we are unable to see God’s hand at work.

          God is never unfair. If we have been busy living life secularly, believing in God but doing little to demonstrate that belief, is it really any surprise when we fail to demonstrate spiritually? Once again, reaping and sowing in action. No real crop (practicing prayer and meditation) was ever planted and now winter (trouble) has arrived and the cupboard is bear. Since the Universe isn’t a fast food restaurant, where if you have a credit card you can get your food on the promise of future payment, God doesn’t take plastic. The promise of prayer and good works tomorrow is meaningless towards our demonstration today. Faith without works is dead. Start today to plant the crop you wish to harvest, to stock your cupboard for the inevitable winter days that come for all. To be clear: We cannot live off of yesterdays work, what our cupboard is stocked with is the truth of our relationship with and to God, that by doing HIS work well TODAY, all our future needs will be met.

       So, just for today Practice the Presence of God in every area of life. Salute the spark of the Divine in all you meet. Forgive. Spend a few minutes each day in prayer and meditation. Carry the Good News on your face so that any who hunger can be filled. By planting and nurturing this crop, we will never hunger, our cupboard always full, our good works the demonstration of the Power within.

DOC HOLLIDAY

To recognize failure intelligently is the first step toward building success.
We all fail, often. Do we profit from the experience or reflect morbidly on it?

Recognize success with thanksgiving, and build more success on that.
Giving thanks for success and asking the same for all, guarantees further success, for all, if they are willing.

We can have anything in life that we really want, but we must be prepared to take the responsibilities that go with it.
Why do so many fail to demonstrate? God knows if we are prepared, but He never brings anything into our life that will overwhelm or harm us.

God is ready the moment we are.
We ready ourselves through consistent scientific prayer and meditation. Who would try to run a marathon without training or fly a plane with no instruction, yet spiritually many, if not most expect God to deliver just because they asked, asking to win the marathon and promising to train afterwards. To be clear: God can and does provide miracles without pre-requisite, such is Grace, our responsibility once aware, is to Practice the Presence of God, to consistently train ourselves to be of service, not only to God, but to our fellows as well.

God always knows the answer.
What more do we need to know?

The biggest fool of all is the man who bothers about outer things and neglects his own consciousness.
If you have no time for prayer and meditation, you will have lots of time for sickness and trouble.
Toward the end of the movie Tombstone, Doc Holliday is receiving last rites from a Catholic priest as Wyatt Earp walks in. Doc comments to Wyatt “I was just investigating the mysteries of the Church of Rome. It appears my hypocrisies know no bounds.” Hypocrisy had little to do with it. We all choose the course of our lives, many putting off to tomorrow their “investigation.”  For Doc Holliday (at least in the movie), better late than never but since we cannot rely on cards and a quick gun hand for our source and security (ultimately failing Doc in the end as well), we choose the sure bet today, to Practice the Presence of God daily, with prayer and meditation.

CAR KEYS

         So many times in life we have thought we were ready only to find that a little, or a lot, more seasoning was needed. Typically this discovery happened after we were up to our necks. No? How about that position you thought you were ready for, so many want the title “Boss” until they get it. Or that home improvement project that looked so easy on TV. Not to mention, but I suppose I am, all those times when we were teenagers, convinced we were ready to be grown up, “responsible.” When our children go through those years all we can do is suggest they slow down and enjoy the time, since once you become “responsible” that horse has left the barn and will never return. They will probably listen as well as we did at that age.

       Spiritually it is impossible to demonstrate beyond our understanding. Many have tried and great has been their fall. Conversely as you grow in spiritual understanding new horizons and opportunities naturally unfold. God, “Our Father” waits in readiness for our advancement. Truly the keys to the kingdom are in our hands, the timing ours. As we grow, day by day, in understanding by Practicing the Presence of God, raising our consciousness one day at a time, we embrace the Truth of Being; that we are timeless children of the Great Creative Lifeforce; connected to all, God immanent. So, just for today, pray gently and meditate on God’s love and guidance, and if your teenager asks for the keys to the car, try not to dwell on what you did in your parent’s car when you were out of sight.

NO TIME

         “If you have no time for prayer and meditation, you will have lots of time for sickness and trouble.” Pretty much sums it up. Our duty, now that we have placed our feet on the path of Living on the Spiritual Basis, is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us. We do this by whole heartedly out picturing our belief in God’s perfect love and guidance in every area of our existence, holding to the bedrock truth that God will not, cannot, ask us to do anything beyond our present reach, to sacrifice our integrity, our spiritual growth or cause us pain and suffering of any kind. “We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous and free. We cannot subscribe to the belief that this life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But it is clear that we made our own misery. God didn’t do it.”  We hold to God‘s love, and though trembling, stand; demonstrating the truth of being, fulfilling our duty.

YANKEE FANS

         Sacred cows, we all have them, the obvious ones being sports teams, political parties and religion. Ever try to talk to a Yankee’s fan about the Red Sox, a liberal about conservatives or a Lutheran about Catholics? Of course the reverse is true in all examples as well, clearly little chance that a meeting of minds will occur. A “die hard” fan or true believer is not interested in anything that does not agree with their “belief.” Recently there was a newspaper story of two baseball fans converging in a bar. Their “conversation” ending in a knifing and death, two lives forever changed over meaningless sacred cows. Is it any wonder that many wars have started over little more? Millions if not billions of lives, since man began keeping score, have been sacrificed at the alter of one sacred cow or another. Write this on your heart in bold letters: NO SACRED COWS. Clearly, there is nothing wrong with rooting for a team, holding political beliefs or belonging to a religion. The error comes when we let emotions over run our common sense, objectifying those we disagree with. To be clear: common sense, when one is Living on the Spiritual Basis, is the knowledge that the only sacred thing is our relationship with God. Root for your team, participate in the political process as much or little as suits you and practice your religion but never lose sight of the truly sacred: the love of “Our Father” for all His children, even if we believe they root for the wrong team. Go Dodgers.

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).

THE LORD’S PRAYER

           The Lord’s Prayer is considered by many to be the most important of all Christian documents. Although there are other interpretations of the prayer, below is the version most often cited. The Latin version follows.


Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.


LATIN

Pater noster, qui es in caelis:
sanctificetur Nomen Tuum;
adveniat Regnum Tuum;
fiat voluntas Tua,
sicut in caelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie;
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris;
et ne nos inducas in tentationem;
sed libera nos a Malo.

PERCEPTIONS

      How we perceive the world colors everything we see and believe. Our perceptions are built, layer upon layer by our life experiences and how we interpret those experiences.

Consider:

A homeless person asks for assistance, do you:
1) Act as if they were invisible.
2) Ask them what they need the money for, we will consider it if they can convince us it is for food and not anything we find objectionable.
3) Smile and hand them a few dollars, saying a silent prayer for them since they are a child of God, just as we are.

     When I wore a younger mans clothes, not just the homeless, but much of life was invisible to me. Being infallible as only the young can be, why would I consider another’s plight when the universe revolved around me. In time, becoming a husband and parent my vision and perceptions began to change, priorities altered. I could see those struggling, but felt duty bound to lecture and inform these poor unfortunates, because they clearly needed the benefit of my wonderfulness.

“The only instrument sharp enough to cut away the excess of self, is pain.”

     The slicing away of self can be a tedious process, but is spiritually invaluable. Today I see with my heart, all are children of a loving God, all equal in His eyes, regardless of station or circumstances. How I treat the least of us will be meted to me in kind, for we all reap as we sow. Today to the above quote I would add “The only instrument sharp enough to cut away the excess of self and alter our perceptions, is pain.”

METAPHYSICAL TRUTH

            What you think upon grows. All thoughts dwelled upon will be out pictured in our lives. Period. When we dwell on lack, perceived injustice (real and imagined), resentment or any of the other hundred forms of fear clamoring for our attention, it attaches them to our consciousness as surely as a barnacle to a pier piling. Though no one would say they wish to suffer, to believe we can think one way and then receive the opposite is the root of the trouble.

        It would be a poor law indeed if it did not work in the reverse as well. When we dwell on the positive, on the Presence of God, on the truth of our relationship with the Divine, that all fear and negativity are false, God the giver of every good gift, will then be out pictured in our lives.

         Remember the lesson of the camels nose? Camels have no reverse. If they get their head under the tent flap, they are coming all the way in. If you smack their nose as soon as you see it they will withdraw. Waiting until you see the full head is to late, their coming in. Our troubles are just like the camels nose. As soon as you become aware of a trouble or difficulty smack it on the nose with prayer and meditation and its ability to drive you to despair and fear will be short circuited. What you think upon grows. What will you think upon today? Beware camels.

EXCLUSIVE OR INCLUSIVE?

“Every thought is made up of two factors, knowledge and feeling.” What do you believe? We all believe in all sorts of things. Ford is better than Chevy, Yankees are better than the Red Sox; my grandkids are cuter than yours are all examples of thoughts/opinions based heavily in feeling rather than knowledge, except the one about my grandkids of course. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, Hawaii is an island, two plus two equals four are all examples of knowledge with little feeling/passion attached. Heated discussions have and will take place concerning the former, yet possibly never concerning the latter.

What do you believe and why do you believe it? Few take the time to truly get to the roots of the things they believe, especially when there is a great deal of feeling attached to them. In many areas of life this carries minimal consequence, but spiritually it is deadly. When belief in God is based mostly in the mind, intellectual belief, with little passion or heart, life’s difficulties approached clinically, when they fail to demonstrate spiritually it is because of the vagaries of living, never because of a lack of any real faith. Conversely if their belief is based almost exclusively in feeling; especially when holding that they are right and everyone else is wrong, they blindly follow anyone who has a little charisma who parrots their feelings of exclusivity, often with tragic results.

Clearly without passion nothing happens. Living on the Spiritual Basis is a passionate way of life, tempered with truth. Not someone else’s truth but our truth arrived at by scientific prayer and meditation. Read with your eyes but study with your heart. Listen with your ears but hear with the Divine Presence within. Do not mortgage your future on any one teacher or interpretation. Jesus taught that we are all connected to the Father, not requiring any intermediaries to establish this bond since it is ours by right of birth, a teaching that turned the world on its head, and forgotten by many religions. Read spiritual books and study teachers that strike a cord in you, but keep your own counsel in the “secret” place in your heart. When questions arise seek out those who have touched you and consider their words in meditation and if you find their counsel just, incorporate it in your life. The right answers will come if our own house is in order, which requires us to remain willing and open to all spiritual experience, “for the realm of Heaven is roomy, all inclusive, never exclusive or forbidding.”

THE KEY OF FREEDOM

The true key to individual freedom is forgiveness. The reason for this is simple: “You do this, not for the other person’s sake, but for your own sake.” Can you think of a single spiritual teacher that has not made this point? Without forgiveness no real spiritual progress can ever be made. When we fail to embrace forgiveness we lock ourselves into a circular route that inevitably leads back to the same difficulties clothed in different garb, again and again. Applying the same solutions, we reap the same results, and then thinking we have mastered the lesson move on, only to be confronted again in short order by the same difficulties in a fresh set of clothes. Living on the Spiritual Basis requires forgiving not only in word and in our actions, but in our heart.

By recognizing our part and then becoming willing to amend our behavior, apologizing to those requiring apology (all require prayer but not all require an apology) we set our feet squarely on the path. The problem is that some people and incidents continue to crop up in our consciousness even though they have been treated with prayer. The problem arises because we hold onto a kernel of seemingly justified anger that blocks us effectively as a dam blocks a river from experiencing peace. When we hold onto an old hurt, justifying our action for any reason, we stand outside the sunlight of the Presence of God, placing ourselves in the shadow of resentment and fear. By embracing justified anger our thinking becomes stale, stagnant and unhealthy, by throwing open our heart to forgiveness we are rejuvenated. The course here is clear; when these items appear in our consciousness immediately treat them again with prayer and ask to be shown if there is anything we can do to be of service to those just prayed for. By becoming willing to be of service to those who harmed us sets us free. To be very clear, by demonstrating your willingness you are set free, God will never place you in a position to be harmed if you are about His business, so even if we have been hurt terribly, today nothing is more important than our freedom, freedom from them and the power they still exert in our lives. By taking the contrary action to what the World and our carnal mind would have us do, we raise our consciousness and stand in the sunlight of the Spirit, clean, rejuvenated and free, the law of forgiveness manifest.

NAKED VIOLIN

“Life is like playing a violin concerto naked, and learning to play as you go along.” A while back I attended a “concert” by second graders, fully clothed. They were less than perfect in their performance but performed exactly as second graders should. Had they been High School students their instructor’s competence would have been questioned and rightfully so. We would never expect a group of seven year olds to perform at the level of students more than twice their age. The point being we always demonstrate where we are. Spiritually where are you? What principles do you practice, since whether you are aware of them or not, we all practice principles. Having placed our feet on the path, choosing to Live on the Spiritual Basis, we embarked on the examined life. We choose whether to turn to God or revel in morbid reflection when (not if) negative or fearful thoughts come into our consciousness, the notes from our violin sweet, clothed in serenity when we Practice the Presence of God in all our affairs, rejecting the negative.

THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

Though many remain in denial of this truth, there are rules, or laws if you prefer, that govern our thinking, applying equally to everyone at all times. They are impersonal, always in force and cannot be appealed. Being impersonal “This law is true for both good and bad ideas. This law, when used negatively, brings sickness, trouble, and failure; and when used positively, brings healing, freedom, and success. We give the orders-the subconscious does the work.”

We cannot, do not control the thoughts that enter our consciousness. We do control what path to follow when we become aware of a thought. When a negative or fearful thought floats up from our subconscious how we respond to it determines our future. We train ourselves when confronted by these discordant thoughts to turn immediately to thoughts of God, His Love, His Power and His Guidance. In so doing the Law of Subconscious Activity works for us, not against.

Practical demonstrations always carry more weight than mere words. Begin by observing the faces of the people in your life. What do you see in the countenance of those who engage in gossip, hurtful or negative words and action? Compare them with those who are consistently kind, supportive and positive. The truth of this lesson will be as plain as the look on your face.

SURRENDER

“We have ceased fighting everything and everyone, we have to”, for unlike physical exercise, where the longer and more intense the workout the better shape we attain, the converse is true mentally. The reason for this is that God does the work, not our mental “muscles.” No amount of will power has ever added a single ounce of spiritual weight to anyone. We don’t “work” on our problems or difficulties since we have turned our will and our lives completely over to the care of God. Having chosen to live on the Spiritual Basis we know today that God is the doer. Not us. Pray when prayer is indicated. Meditate regularly. Turn to Him who has all knowledge and power when filled with fear and doubt and trust Him. Since in truth “all mental working should be relaxed, gentle, and unhurried for effort defeats itself.”

ORANGES

Has someone said to you or have you ever said “don’t think like that?” Not possible is it. It is one of those silly things that we say to one another without thinking it through. Like “a watched pot never boils.” Yes it does, every single time. I understand how the saying originated, but without the origin understood for context it is just nonsense. As soon as we are told not to think about something the first thing we do is think about it. No? OK, don’t think about oranges. How did you do? We are powerless over the thoughts that float through our minds unbidden; however we choose the action to take upon becoming aware of these thoughts. Oranges are not much of a problem, but there exists in all of us a voice of discord and negativity that is embedded in the subconscious. The origin of the voice is secondary, the action we choose to take paramount. Having embarked on living on the Spiritual Basis our path is clear for we have ceased fighting everything and everyone. We gently but firmly turn from the negative to the positive, God. If the thoughts are persistent, we engage in some activity that will distract us, a phone call to a friend inquiring about them (do not speak of the negative thoughts), an engrossing book or activity. If possible find someone to help. Nothing relieves us of the bondage of self, and all negative thinking binds us in self, as intensive work with others. The key is to substitute positive thinking and action for the negative thoughts. Simple but not easy. When we begin this way of living it will feel clunky and somewhat uncomfortable, but just like learning to ride a bike, as long as we are diligent and consistent, in time it will become second nature.

OUTLINING TRAP

Difficult problems seem to have a life of their own. Hard as we try, we treat them spiritually and the next thing we know they are back in the forefront of our consciousness, dominating our thoughts. Typically the thoughts creep in silently and we don’t become aware of them until they have gained purchase in our consciousness, then we have to go through the spiritual exercises again to gain relief. One of the most insidious ways this happens is through outlining. The world teaches that we should think things through, weigh pros and cons, talk it out, but just as “the grouch and the brainstorm are the dubious luxury of normal men” so is outlining. We start out innocently enough but in short order we begin outlining how a situation or trouble should work out, in essence telling the universe how to solve our problems, on our terms of course. It doesn’t work, does it. It builds up our expectations and as a wise man said “the level of my serenity is directly proportional to my expectations.” Living on the Spiritual Basis our expectations are placed in God’s hands and on His shoulders, so when we find ourselves outlining we stop as soon as we become aware and thank God for knowing Him better. To quiet the mind we repeat some simple set prayers like “Be still and know that I am God”, “There is no power greater than God” or simply “God is with me.” When I ran the world I outlined constantly, for it needed my help. Living on the new basis, I leave the running of the world, and my life, in God’s hands for He does a much better job of it than I ever did, for today I know in my heart of hearts that “God is with me.”

DIFFICULT SITUATIONS

When trouble or difficulty arrives at your door step, immediately turn to God in prayer. Pray for the knowledge, guidance and strength to address it and most importantly pray for any other individuals involved, regardless of how they may have or are attempting to harm us. In so doing we raise our consciousness and build a bull work of peace and serenity remaining free and unharmed. Never, under any pretense ask God to do harm or cause ill to befall anyone, for if we do we drag our consciousness down and needlessly subject ourselves to suffering. Seek always the higher ground of raised consciousness, for each reaps as they sow, if we sow seeds of hate, anger, resentment and contempt, do not then be surprised when the meal is served from the harvested crop you planted.

THINK ABOUT GOD

Wayne Dyer suggests that we “think from the end” when confronted with life’s challenges. Having embarked on the path of Living on the Spiritual Basis, we now know that at the “end” the solution for every difficulty or problem is God. We can turn to God at any point along the way, but the sooner the better. Think of it this way; wherever you travel there is the shortest, most direct route; any other path is taking the long way round. Sometimes when traveling the long way round is preferable, better scenery, more interesting sights, friends along the way, etc. When we are suffering however, this is never the case, yet it is exactly what most people do! Spiritually the long way round should be avoided like the plague, yet most dawdle along rehashing their story with anyone who will listen, engaging in angry recrimination while wallowing in morbid reflection. Only when we place our feet squarely on the path, raising our consciousness above the trouble by turning in prayer, resisting the temptation to outline for God the solution, seeking only the knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out do we triumph. God can and will solve all our problems and difficulties, if we will rely upon Him. Therefore, when troubled, take the road less traveled, thinking of God immediately, avoiding the “the long way round” of resentment, suffering, blame and morbid reflection.

A PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION

“Study and research are well in their own time and place, but no amount of either will get you out of a concrete difficulty. Nothing but practical work in your own consciousness will do that.” (This next part is paramount since we probably are all guilty.) “The mistake made by many people, when things go wrong, is to skim through book after book, without getting anywhere” (Intention versus action).

Faith without works is dead. Fervent belief is fine as far as it goes, but nothing happens until action is engaged in. Until we demonstrate a consistent course of action nothing of consequence transpires in our consciousness to bring us to the desired safe harbor. We paddle in one direction for a time, then something catches our attention and we set off in another. Is it any wonder then that we never reach safety? Look to your book shelf, how many books are on it that when first read seemed to have the “answer”, yet there they sit, gathering dust. To be fair, they probably are fine works written by wonderful teachers, yet for one reason or another they did not carry the weight to elicit continual study and implementation.

Practical work in our own consciousness requires dedication and consistent effort. “Scientific prayer is the Golden Key to harmony and happiness.” What is scientific prayer? When faced with a difficulty of any kind, turn in prayer affirming everything you know to be true about God. Under no circumstance pray about the problem or difficulty! Instead we turn, in prayer, to focus our whole consciousness on God and our relationship with Him, for God is omnipotent, He already knows everything about your life, your problems, desires, hopes and fears and exactly what is needed. Our job is to get out of the way and trust in Him who has all knowledge and power, to stop focusing on the negative (the difficulty) and place our focus singularly on God (the solution). “Simple, but not easy.”

“It works, it really does. Try it.”