Welcome to Trinity Sunday, where we celebrate the Oneness of the Three:
God with us, revealed in us: alive within us.Read More »
As I see here in Panama wave after wave of Venezuelans arriving, running from the disaster in their country, I realise that it is hard for us to welcome them with open arms. People here feel threatened by the mass migration wave that has hit Panama – “there are too many of them”. Crimes rates have increased over the past three years. Housing has become more expensive. Unemployment has increased. The cost of living has gone up.
And “the Venezuelans are to blame”…Read More »
How do you practice gratitude?
“You say grace before meals. All right.
But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” ― G.K. Chesterton
I’m 23 days through the 28 days of “The Magic”, by Rhonda Byrne. You can say what you like about “oh, it’s New Age” or whatever you want, but I have loved the practical application of gratitude in my life this month!Read More »
Over the past weeks, I have spent a lot of time thinking about money, beliefs and actions. Much of this was spurred by some coaching and heart work that I was doing writing in my journal, getting a clearer view of the life that I want to live and the calling that I have.Read More »
“Your Point of Power is in the Present.” Jane Roberts
This week I have been challenged time and time again to stay in the present moment. To remember that my power lies only here and now. That the only action that I can really take, the only one that really matters, is what I do today.Read More »
We all know what it’s like when the lights go off inside our home, and we are left in the pitch black. Can we imagine what it was like before electricity, when a home was lit solely with candles? There was no staying up watching TV. There was no working late on the computer. Imagine, you were handwriting a manuscript, and you make a mistake – rewrite the entire page, there is no delete button on the computer to go back 3 spaces.Read More »
Easter has just passed, and while everyone was focused on Jesus’ resurrection I was busy thinking about my personal “death” and “resurrection”. I don’t know about you, but it seems that every 6-7 years, life presents us with a “breakdown”: grow through this experience or be doomed to repeat it in 6-7 years time! They say that after every breakdown, comes a break through, and I think that this is very true for all of us, especially spiritually. Without the break down, we would never be forced to break through!
Over the past months, I have been convinced that I need to focus on my spiritual well-being, putting God, as Source and Substance first in my life. I find this to be particularly challenging. Source: as in source of my
If I focus on one aspect of my life, I typically exclude the Divine from other aspects, unconsciously. So, I constantly find myself “going it alone”, and then try to come back to center. When I remember that the Infinite is the source of my abundance and finances, I forget about my health and well-being. When I focus on Divine as source of my emotions, I get caught up in my thoughts.
So, over Easter, I was busy contemplating: what do I need to release and let go of? What beliefs and thoughts and feelings no longer serve me? What would I be better of without?
And even more importantly, perhaps, what do I need to forgive and release? What baggage am I carrying around, emotionally and in my thoughts, that needs to “die” in me and be released?
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” — Buddha
The same goes for suffering, hurt and pain that we hold onto because it has become part of who we identify with. Who will I be if I let go of this? We talk about “renewal of our minds” and yet strangely consider it okay to hold on to those beliefs and habits which do not allow us to grow, renew and resurrect.
I started March on the right foot: a morning spent on World Day of Prayer in prayer and forgiveness. And yet, when we arrived at Easter, I was very aware that there was still work to be done in forgiveness and release. I needed to renew my mind even further. I needed to focus on forgiveness of self, and release and let go, so that I could move past mistakes of the past and grow.
We have developed, as a human race, many concepts of death and resurrection. We speak of rising like a phoenix from the ashes, and this symbolism exists across many cultures. For the Greeks, it is the phoenix, but it is also the Benu bird of the Egyptians. For some, it is the Nimbus, closely related to the sun. The Jews has the Milcham, and the Persians had the Simurgh. Native Americans have the Thunderbird, Russians have a Firebird, and the Chinese have the Feng Huang. Finally, the Japanese have the HoHo bird. These are all symbols of resurrection after loss.
The phoenix is a legendary bird that can live for 500 years. Knowing that the end was near, the phoenix builds a funeral pyre for itself. It lies down on this pyre as it begins to die and burst into flames, consumed by the fire. Then, from the fire, the phoenix emerges, renewed, purified, more beautiful and regal than before. And so the cycle of life would begin again, for another 500 years, dying, purifying, returning more beautiful than ever, into perpetuity.
And so, I have been ruminating about what has died or is dying in my life that it’s time to release?
What should I simply release and let go of, so that I can rise again, a more beautiful and better version of myself?
As a spiritual being in a human body, what does eternity and perpetuity look like? If the Kingdom of Heaven is here: what does that look like in my life and experience?
And so as Easter moves into Pentecost – a time in which we rejoice in the Oneness that we have with Wisdom and Comfort – I am invited to contemplate what my renewal and resurrection looks like.
As I live in Presence each day, committing to Peace in my life, I am assured that I have everything that I need. That the source of my abundance and sustenance, my emotions & feelings, my thoughts and my bodily health is Perfect. I am simply asked to allow the Light to fill me and flow through me.
So, this morning I was watching a YouTube video by Lulu Minns, in which she was discussing “asking“: asking the Universe (God) for what you actually need and desire. Sit down and clearly identify (specific numbers) your needs and your desires for the month to come (in my case, April 2018). And then, ask for it! Crunch the numbers, be specific, and ask for exactly what you need! Then get to work (obviously).
This description of asking for what I need hit a spiritual nerve with me: How am I doing with my “give us this day our daily bread“? Very vague. I say “give me this day my daily bread”. I pray it. But am I specific about what that actually is? Am I truly asking for what I need and want, being super clear and specific? No. Not at all. I’ll just leave that up to God, because God already knows what I need… Vague requests getting vague results.
I’ve always excused myself, telling myself that I am leaving the door open for God to bless me. But is this true? Or am I just being lazy? Does sitting down and getting specific about “this is what I need” for this day, this week and this month, make me more accountable? How motivated do I feel when I am specific about my needs? Acting responsibly requires that I identify what I really need, versus what I simply want. It also enables me to be realistic about “What do I need today?“. It’s very easy to worry about everything – it’s not so easy to prioritise which ones really come first.
Proverbs 14:23 reminds us:
Hard work always pays off, mere talk puts no bread on the table.
When I sat down this morning, after watching her short video, with the office expenses and my personal expenses, and I got detailed about “this is what I need“, today, this week and this month, that was “hard work”, not just vain and empty words. But there was more than just the financial aspect of “this is what I need and desire”.
The bread referred to in Proverbs, as well as the bread in Matthew is not simply a physical bread to satisfy my stomach’s hunger. When we pray “give us this day our daily bread“, we are actually asking for the sustenance of the day: the food, the shelter, the strength, the patience, the creativity, the motivation, the opportunities. Our “daily bread” represents our “necessities” of life. It may be the support that we need from another person, the encouragement to continue working hard. It may be a new contact that we need to make, or a door that we need to open.
And so suddenly, my question became: what do I need for today? As I look at today’s schedule, what I am supposed to work on and work through, what do I need? Strength? Focus? Creativity? Empathy? What am I truly asking for today? Do I truly trust God to be my Source and provide me with my daily bread?
As I have gotten more in touch with the idea of continually living in the present and Presence of the Divine, I have realised that that I need to differentiate between God as “source” and the actual channel of my “bread”. By this I mean: I could receive $100.00 from my work, or as a gift from someone, or from an investment – each one of these are different channels. But ultimately, all come from the Divine. Am I believing in the Divine or am I stuck on just one channel?
I have acquired a certain level of security knowing that my security or sustenance is coming from a particular channel (my work). But what happens when that channel gets blocked? Do I lose faith in God as our Source? I’ve been there. One door closed and suddenly my whole world has fallen apart. But that’s not actually true. Just one door closed. But I was too reliant on that one door. Maybe even made an idol out of that door. It because “God” and Source. And then that door closes, and I have been left feeling “God has abandoned me“.
So, this morning, as I looked at what do I need and want for this month, week and day, I started to identify my “ask“. This is what I need, here and now. This is what today holds: financially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. This is what I need and these are the desires of my heart. And to sit back and expect Divine grace to fill it. As I sat in silence with those needs, light and illumination came. “This” is where my focus and energy needs to go today, these are the things that need to be done.
We ask for our daily bread, and then we need to wait and hear the answer about which areas we need to focus on and work at. The hard work will pay off: but we need to be working on the right things. And it’s only in the silence that we can hear the answer of what that right thing is!
Prayer doesn’t change God. Prayer changes me!
For God so loved the world… that over two thousand years ago, Jesus came to this earth in human form to show us what this love truly means. Through his life, his teachings and his example, we find a new way, a better way. He gave what we may consider to be the ultimate sacrifice, his earthly body, in a painful and excruciating death, so that we might receive the gift of Oneness of our spiritual bodies with God, no longer separated but as Children of God. Through this, we might fully understand the meaning of eternal life, as spiritual beings living continually in the presence of God. Not waiting for our earthly death for eternity to start, but recognising that we are already living eternity.
Jesus came and taught us humility, as he lived as a refugee in Egypt as a child, much like Syrian refugees live today in Jordan and Lebanon. Do we treat our refugees any better than we have treated Jesus? How do we treat the refugees from Venezuela? The refugees from Haiti, from Africa? If we imagine that each of these refugees was Jesus, how are we doing?
‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ (Matthew 25: 40)
In Matthew 18: 1 we find the disciples discussing “Who really is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens?” He calls a child, stands the child in the midst of the disciples and tells them:
“Unless you turn around and become as young children, you will by no means enter into the Kingdom of the heavens. Therefore, whoever will humble himself like this young child is the one who is the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens; and whoever receives one such young child on the basis of my name receives me also.”—Matthew 18:3-5.
As we consider how we are treating the sojourners and refugees among us, then we known how great we are in the Kingdom! Before the last supper, we find Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
Because God so loved us… Jesus showed us the importance of reading the Word, as a twelve year old when he read and discussed in the temple the scriptures. Luke 2: 47 says that “all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.” At twelve years old. He not only was willing to read the Bible allowed in the temple, but to answer questions and explain it. And yet, we seem to struggle each week for participants to read the scriptures aloud in church each Sunday.
Jesus showed us dedication and patience, as he worked as a carpenter, under his father’s tutelage. And yet we reject the authority of our parents, failing to honor our mother and father as we are called to do. We push our way forward for honor and rewards, seeking the limelight, rather than being willing to work in the background.
Because God so loved you… Jesus showed us how to handle the temptations that arise in our day to day lives. Through his temptations of hunger (lust of the body), egoism (misuse of our power) and materialism (kingdoms and wealth) we see what is means to be a child of God, holding fast to that identity, and still standing strong in the knowledge of what that really means. In these temptations, we see the challenge to Jesus: “If you are the Son of God” – are you really a child of God? Prove it.
Through these temptations, we see how the ego wants to use our spiritual power and gifts to satisfy human cravings. This is attempting to turn stones into bread, the attempt to find gratification in using spiritual power to satisfy human, personal desires.And yet, Jesus shows us the better and higher way. Are you fully secure in your identity as a child of God? Can you, like Jesus, respond: “It is written”? Our human nature wants to demonstrate prosperity and success or healing and “prove” that it works. We think some outer achievement will make us happy and successful. But Jesus teaches us a higher way: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”
Most importantly, Jesus showed us what it really means to have a relationship with God, to have the indwelling of the Spirit. Jesus showed us, in his every day living and loving, what it means to truly be One with God the Father.
John 14: 4-7 promise us:
4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
…7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
We are reminded of this again in John 17: 21-23
As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 … so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
For God so loved the World that he sent us Jesus… who taught us what it means to be a child of God (as each one of us has already been called to be). Paul says in Colossians 2:9 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” The Message says “Everything of God gets expressed in him, so that you can see and hear God clearly”.” Are you living out your life as a son or daughter of God? Is every quality of God fully expressed in your life and living and loving?
Psalm 82: 6 says in a stunning way:
You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High.
The same calling to greatness and Oneness with God that Jesus had, each of us has. To be the Son of God is to be of the same nature as God. The Son of God is “of God.” We were created by God, in God’s image, to do God’s will on this earth. And God so loved each one of us, as sons and daughters, that God sent us Jesus to show us the way home.
Jesus reminds us of this in John 10: 33-38:
33 The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.”
34 Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled— 36 can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. 38 … know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
Like the Prodigal son, we have lived our lives without authority, power, belonging and sharing at the table of the feast: but God loved us. And so today we are reminded of this rich mercy, of the great love with which we are loved. We are made alive in Christ, seated with him, shown the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us! If we are living in separation from God, then we are throwing away the gift of love that was given to us.
And because of this great love that we have been shown, we are all challenged today to love each other! The test of how well we have overcome that which separates us from God is how well we love our brothers and sisters:
John 13: 35
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
We need to remember that each day we are “born anew”, we die to sin and rise to Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Because we are shown grace and mercy, we have the possibility of dying to whatever holds us back, and rising again renewed and full of life and light.
Matthew 5: 13-15
13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14 You are the light of theworld. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house
But until we actually recognize that living in the Presence of our Creator actually means shining forth every day as light in this world, we are only surviving, instead of thriving.
Divine Presence: Letting the Infinite flow in my life 