Sunday Sermons
LAKE CHARLES COMMUNITY CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
   
The Lake Charles Community Church of the Brethren is a
non-creedal, open and affirming church with only three beliefs
that we hold dear:
· Unconditional love
· No force in religion
· Continuing revelation
Services are on Sunday at 10:30 am. Lunch in the fellowship hall
follow services. Bring a covered dish and join us for good food
and good company!
There is an A Course in Miracles discussion group every
Sunday from 12:30 to 3:00. This group is open and everyone is
welcome.
Comments are welcome, please log in.
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Tue Oct 02, 2007
Inspired Writings
This was given at Carmel Temple in South Houston, Texas
I began reading inspired writings in 1982 when I was led to A Course in Miracles. Since then I have read several other books given us by Jeshua or the Holy Spirit. A Course in Miracles remains my principle study guide. But as I am ready for another form of inspiration, the perfect book appears in my life. I read Conversations With God when it first came out, and sometime later discovered Brent Haskell’s inspired writings, The Other Voice and Journey Beyond Words. Dialogue on Awakening from Tom and Linda Carpenter is another very helpful book from the same source. My present favorites are The Way of Mastery, and NTI which was dictated as the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of the New Testament to Regina Dawn Akers.
What all of these books have in common is that they remind us over and over in many ways that we are far more than the body/personality that exists in time and space. All of these books remind us that we are not meant to live in lack, fear and guilt. And all of these books inspire us to live life in joy, in peace and from love. They may use different words or come from a different point of view, but that in itself is perfect. What seems perfectly clear to me might not resonate with the next person. I have picked up a book and put it down thinking I did not want it, only to pick it up later and felt blessed to have found it. What has remained consistent for me is that I am led to the perfect source for inspiration at the moment I am ready for it.
What of the differences I seem to detect in these works? It is my belief that there is more to life than we can possibly understand or put into words while we believe we are in this limited condition of being a body in time and space. The words in these books are simply symbols of something much greater than can be expressed here. I hold the words lightly and allow the Holy Spirit to penetrate my mind with the truth. I have expressed the desire to be healed and I trust that the way is made for that to happen. I simply follow the path laid out for me, trusting that the Holy Spirit knows the way.
Why are we getting so much information from Jeshua right now? Could it be that we are ready to awaken as the Son of God? Could it be that right now it is time for many of us to begin living, not as solitary, separate individual egos, but as the Awakened Mind of Christ? Jesus completed his journey and so showed us that we could do the same thing; that we could live in the world, but not be of the world. That is, we could live as Christ incarnate just as he did.
What happened, of course, is that we were being ego incarnate and so preferred to think of him as special and to build religions around the person Jesus, rather than to accept that he was our model of living as Christ. I am reminded of a story Tom Carpenter told at a workshop I attended. While Tom Carpenter was discoursing with Brother, as he called Jesus, he had an extraordinary, life changing experience. Jesus explained that the reason Tom preferred to call him Brother rather than Jesus is that it made him seem more accessible. Now the way Tom prepared to speak to Jesus was by imagining himself in a garden with Jesus sitting on a bench and Tom at his feet. The next time this happened, Tom sat, looking into Jesus’ eyes, waiting for the flow to begin, and when it didn’t, he told Brother that he didn’t know what to do. Jesus told him it would be easy if he would come sit beside him. Tom said, “This was the most overpowering and loving-beyond-description moment I have ever experienced.”
I can only imagine what that must have felt like. I, too, put Jesus on a pedestal even though he makes it clear in ACIM that he is not different from me and that we are part of the same mind. There is only one Son of God and it is us, and that includes Jesus. I had the same problem with the Holy Spirit. I kept trying to make the Holy Spirit into a person, different from me, when He is the Voice for God forever holding the truth of my holiness for me, forever whispering to me of God’s abiding Love.
The way I learned to see the Holy Spirit differently is by doing daily journaling with the Him. I still ask the Holy Spirit questions, but my understanding now is that I do this as a convenient way to separate the ego thinking from the Higher thinking in my own mind. It is just a way for me to express the truth that I really am as opposed to the lie that the ego is. I have been doing my daily lessons with the Holy Spirit every day for the past year and it is a very enriching experience.
This is from Lesson 222, “God is with me. I live and move in Him.” It is an example of how the process works for me. You can see that I use the device of expressing my understanding and then asking for clarification.
I notice that the longer I do the Course, the more meaning certain words have for me. I used to think that God is with me and I live and move in Him were pretty words, and I understood them as a concept. Now my understanding of them has more depth and more breadth. I am in God very literally. This of course does not mean my body is in God, but then my body is not really anyplace since it is only the projection of a thought. I, not ego I, but who I really am is in God. I could be no place else because there is only God. There is no outside God where I could be instead. I live and move in God and am sustained by Him. To think of this and to say the words lifts my heart. It elicits strong emotion and brings tears of joy to my eyes.
It seems perfect to then become quiet and just experience this love. What words could I say at this point that would come close to describing the way I feel when I realize how much my Creator loves me. As I read what I wrote it seems to underline the inadequacy of words, certainly this writer cannot find words to describe the Love of God. And this is only the love that I have experienced through the fog of ego thoughts that still crowd my mind. Oh my Dear God, what would it feel like to experience Your Love without the filter of ego!
Holy Spirit, I know in my heart this joy and peace I have only recently begun to experience is just a shadow of what I am meant to have. I don’t know if I could stand such happiness.
And this is what the Holy Spirit said to me:
This is the reason the Son awakens slowly. The idea of complete Love is frightening because there is still much self hate in the mind. But you are doing what you need to do to release the ego guilt and fear that clouds your thinking. It seems like a very slow process to you and I know you sometimes become discouraged. I want to assure you that you are much closer than you think. It is especially helpful to your awakening that you are willing to see whatever thoughts are binding you to the world, even if it is hard to look at them. When you seem unwilling to understand, you joke about persistence being your ticket home, but in truth, persistence is a certain route home.
You have many processes that help you put words to ideas that seem too abstract to be meaningful to you. But you are going to notice that you need fewer words now. When you began this journey home you needed the rules and the reminders of what was literal and what was given as poetic expression. You wanted everything to have a specific, unchanging meaning. This is because you were building a foundation for this new thought system, and you wanted that firm ground to stand on. After all, A Course in Miracles was turning your life upside down, and you were flailing for awhile.
Do you notice that now you have your footing, you are more comfortable with the abstract? You are not constantly searching for just the right word to keep the meaning firm and unyielding. This is as it should be for you are Abstract in your creation as is your Creator. For awhile longer you need the symbols of words and what they represent, but you will not always. The second half of the workbook represents this change as fewer words are used and the concepts are not as concrete.
What remains the same is the need for trust. You become uncomfortable when our discussions become too specific and become afraid that you are allowing the ego to join us. I ask that you trust Me to guide you. Trust this process now. You will find it more useful if you do not allow the ego doubts and uncertainties to interfere with our communication. If the words are not exact, forgive yourself for that, and trust that I know the way to your heart. What you sincerely want will be given to you in a way that is understandable. Remember that words are just symbols and not true communication, but they will do for now.
Holy Spirit, the more I live in gratitude and forgiveness, the more my experience reflects this. I do not understand Love and cannot define it. I barely experience it, and yet the little Love that I am willing to allow to flow through me is expressed in my life in wonderful ways. I am so grateful for this reflection and it is definition enough for me. I just want to focus on releasing more and more of all that blocks this Love from my awareness.
At first hearing, and accepting what I heard, was a very tentative thing as I was uncertain that I would receive anything, and if I did, how would I know it was from Spirit and not from ego. But it got easier and easier with practice and I have come to fully trust the process because my intention is clear. I might have never had the courage to begin this process if it had not been for those who came before me and through their own work showed me that these words do not come to special people, but to all of us. In fact, there are no special people. We are all one in the mind of God. We are all the same. Jeshua speaks to whoever wants to hear him, and is willing to open their mind to him. The Holy Spirit’s function is to undo the errors in my mind. How could I not receive His help?
From the many sources of inspired writing, particularly through the beautifully written courses from the Stoeltings at Pathways of Light, I have learned to go within for answers and have learned to trust those answers. I am learning that I want to live an awakened life and I am learning how to do that. I am through trying to play the game of attack and defend, and I am through playing at judgment and projection. The world I think of as “out there” is sometimes quite lovely but always a lie because it is not really out there. It is, as are all things, in my mind. My thoughts are reflected upon the world so that I experience what I believe to be true. I am determined and committed to allowing the Holy Spirit to purify my thoughts so that my experience of the world will be joyous and peaceful.
In the process of doing this, as I live the life I am meant to live, those who are ready to begin their own journey will naturally move into my sphere of influence and they will see within me something they want to experience for themselves. This is all I need do; simply live, but not as Myron the ego/body/personality, rather I live as Christ. In The Way of Mastery Jeshua says:
When next someone asks you, “Who are you?” please do not give them a name. …Tell them the truth:
Who am I? I am the extension of Love in form.
I have never been born and I will never taste death.
I am infinite and eternal.
I shine forth as a sunbeam to the sun.
I am the effect of God’s Love.
And I stand before you to love you.
Now that will raise some eyebrows! It will also transform your world.
It has certainly transformed mine.
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Mon Jan 22, 2007
Living the Vision
We have talked about vision for our church. Rev. Bonita has really inspired us with her vision, and with the need to have a vision and to hold to that vision. Since we have articulated our vision for our church, I have begun to feel a change here. I feel a new energy here, a new sense of purpose.
I want to do the same thing for myself. I want to articulate a vision for my life, for my future. What do I envision for myself? To tell the truth, my vision for my life is not a lot different than our vision for our church. We want a church that stays true to our traditions. We want a church where people, all people, can gather to feel the presence of God in our midst. We want a place where each person feels as welcome as the next.
Our vision is to provide the one place where folks can come to experience unconditional love, where they know they will never be judged no matter what they do, how they look, what errors they make, or what they say. This is such a lofty vision that it literally takes my breath away to even think it could be true.
Our vision is to provide a place that encourages each member to seek the answers to their questions, not from each other or from the ministers, but from God. To go within to the indwelling Christ and simply ask, “What would you have me know? What would you have me do and say?” And then to come together to share these answers in absolute freedom knowing they will not be questioned or judged.
Our vision includes providing a place where there is no force in religion, which is possible only if we have unconditional love and continuing revelations. And as if these lofty principles are not enough, our church is based on a foundation of peace and service to others. What an extraordinary vision!
Of course it is not enough to have a vision, and not enough even to state this vision regularly. To keep a vision alive, we must each strive to live it. As the quote says, “God is in the details,” and so this is true for our church. To keep the vision alive requires that we live it in each small moment. If you thought someone came to church dressed inappropriately, this is a chance to remember that this is a place where we love unconditionally, and that includes appropriate clothing and appropriate speaking. In fact, a church with the kind of principles this church is founded on, has no place for that word at all. Appropriate is a judgment, and the expectation behind that judgment places all kinds of conditions on our love.
There are a million little ways in which we will be tempted to place conditions on our fellow members. Each of those is an opportunity to live up to our vision. And make no mistake about it, we can articulate vision as a church all day long, but if we as the individuals who make up this church do not live it, then this is a dead church. It is our decision to live these principles that breathes life into this church.
Part of unconditional love is allowing for error in others and in ourselves. It would not be unconditional love to condemn anyone for not loving unconditionally. We chose these lofty goals because this is what we want to become, not because this is what we are. And so we have this safe place in which to grow into the unconditionally loving human beings that we are created to be.
So what does this have to do with my own vision? Well, I am attracted to this church because I want to extend what I see here into the rest of my life. I want to become the person who loves everyone unconditionally. Wow! Can you imagine that in your own life? Think for just a moment of someone in your life who has been a real thorn in your side, someone who is in your life now, or who used to be a part of your life. Think of someone who you really don’t like for whatever reason. Have you got someone in mind?
Ok, now think about loving that person unconditionally. No, I mean really think about really loving them, no matter what they say or do, no matter how miserable they have made your life. Can you get a feel for how difficult this is to actually do? Let me tell you what happened for me when I thought of someone in particular who has presented an unconditional love challenge in my life. I immediately thought of reasons they are not worthy of love. These thoughts just popped into my mind.
I’d like to say that they were unbidden, that I don’t know where they came from, but the truth is, if they are in my mind I invited them in. There is a lesson in A Course in Miracles that says, “I am determined to see things differently.” I would say that this is a good lesson for me right now. I am determined to see, (and here I say the name of the offending person) differently.
Well, differently than what? Right now I see this person as my enemy. I want, instead, to see this person as my brother because that is the truth. I want to see this person the way God sees this person. I have never been able to do this without help. There is only one way I have ever found for me to accomplish this. I express my willingness to do so, and then I invite the Holy Spirit to show me a different vision, a different way to see him. I invite the Holy Spirit to correct my error in thinking, because if I see this person as less than my dear brother in Christ, then I am making an error. I am determined to see differently.
This is where I have to look at my anger. If I see this person as being the reason I am not happy, then I am going to be angry, and I am going to direct my anger toward him. I cannot forgive and at the same time be angry. I will have to give up my anger. I quote Kenneth Wapnick here: The problem is that we cannot be determined to see things differently at the same time we are angry, because our anger says: "I am determined to see things the way I have always seen them. My perception is right, Jesus' is wrong, and I will go to my death to prove it."
In my determination to see differently, I am agreeing to get in touch with my anger, to look at it with the Holy Spirit, so that I can see how it is harming me, how it is robbing me of my peace and robbing me of my happiness. Another thing, I am learning about anger from the Course is that I was wrong in thinking that there are degrees of anger.
This is a passage that has been especially helpful to me in learning this. "The anger may take the form of any reaction ranging from mild irritation to rage. The degree of the emotion you experience does not matter. You will become increasingly aware that a slight twinge of annoyance is nothing but a veil drawn over intense fury." At first I just couldn’t see this. I really believed that I could be annoyed and that was ok, that it had little meaning, and that it was not as bad as being enraged. Since I began to understand this, I have seen how true it is.
Something happened to me at the local grocery store that really drove this idea home for me. I was standing in line, trying to get my groceries paid for so that I would not be late for something. I don’t remember what was so important, but I do remember the lady in front of me who was engaged in a riveting conversation with someone on her cell phone. I was getting really impatient with her when I remembered this lesson. I decided to think about how I felt. What if I could feel anything I wanted to feel without guilt, and without judgment? I mean what if I didn’t care how I looked, or what I thought about myself?
Better yet, what if I could act on that feeling without any repercussions? I would not get in trouble or really hurt anyone no matter what I did. I would just be expressing my hidden feelings and that would be ok. I had nothing better to do as I stood there tapping my foot in impatience, so I really let my mind go. What I felt was absolute rage. Before I could stop my imagination, I had mentally grabbed that phone out of her hand and hit her upside the head with it.
I couldn’t believe how strongly I felt about this. I couldn’t believe how strong my submerged emotions were. Never again did I doubt that annoyance is nothing but a veil drawn over intense fury. I no longer kid myself about that. It was at this time that I got serious about being mindful of my thoughts, and I no longer try to figure out what any of it means. I just note if it is a true thought, or an ego thought, and if it is an ego thought I ask the Holy Spirit to help me see things differently. This has become my process, my path.
My vision includes loving myself unconditionally. There are times when it is hard to do this. I tend to judge myself more harshly than I do anyone else. I make an error and I want to berate myself, but that is not expressing unconditional love. Expecting an error free life is placing a condition on my love.
One way that I can learn to forgive myself for my seeming errors is through doing the same for others. It is a simple rule that is always true: Give what you want to get. I want to learn not to judge myself, so I will practice not judging others. I want to be forgiven by others for my errors, so I will practice forgiving them for their errors. I will give what I want to get.
It is possible to recognize that I, or someone else, has made an error without judging myself or them for it. I’ve been taught to judge, but I can learn a different way. I can learn to see things differently.
It is my vision to make my life a judgment free zone. I want to live my life in such a way that everyone knows it is safe to be with me. They will know it is safe to express themselves freely with me, that it is safe to make errors with me, that they will never be judged by me, and that they will always be loved by me; no exceptions, no conditions. That is my vision, and that is my goal. I know that this is something I will need help to accomplish, and I know that God is my ever present help. I call on Him freely and often. I ask that He help me to see differently than I have in the past. I ask that He help me see as He sees.
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