Bre'r Rabbit—Curing The “Mopes”

From Rev. David McArthur (edited by Mike McGuire, not reviewed by the speaker)

Journey into the heart  Bre'r Rabbit had the mopes—he had lost the race to the tortoise and other things were going wrong. So Mrs. Rabbit sent him to the Witch Rabbit deep in the swamp, and it was getting dark. This represents the journey into the heart—a difficult journey. Not everyone gets there. We usually let our brains list all the ways we are not better, not good enough, or not strong enough. Doesn't fear come right in?

First, Witch Rabbit sends Bre'r Rabbit to catch a squirrel. That's your first step—grab your squirrelly thoughts and “tie them up in a bag”.

2nd, Bre'r Rabbit has to get a snake hiding in the grass. It looks menacing. It embodies fear. When we run into the experience of fear it stops us and our knowledge of the beautiful power within shuts down. Bre'r Rabbit sweet-talks the snake and when it relaxes, he snares it, holds it up, and goes. If our attention is solely on the fearful thing, that's all we see. Do we put our attention on the threat of the snake or on the wisdom in our hearts? When our attention is on the heart and what it's telling us, we open and the knowledge comes. It doesn't mean the challenges won't cause pain. But we go into overcare, which is when we focus so much on the hurt or danger, especially for the people we care for, that we don't go to the guidance in the heart. We let fear of what could occur stop the unfoldment of the greater good. It is not that you fear something that is not really possible, but turn from the fear to the heart. Grab the snake and go.

Lastly, take that fear to the heart and follow the guidance within, even if the path is not fully seen. Bre'r Rabbit's final task was to get a tusk from the elephant in the forest. He has no idea how he'll do it, but he goes to get it anyway. The elephant runs into a tree and the tusk just falls off. Sometimes we just have to take on the fear of power we see “out there” over us. But the power (and fear) is in us. Part of the gift of taking on the fear and finding the wisdom is that the fear falls away. It no longer has power over you. That's when it's fun!

Generosity Expresses The Presence Of God  From Rev. David McArthur (edited by Mike McGuire, not reviewed by the speaker)

Kimeli, a young Maasai African, lived in a rural village that did not even have roads. He had no father, and was considered a lower human. But Kimeli admired the generosity of doctors, and wanted to be a generous doctor. And there is always the next step. So Kimeli ran away to a town that had a school, and the headmaster allowed him to attend. From there he applied to colleges in America. The University of Oregon offered a scholarship. Grants from a benefactor in Florida let him attend. Subsequently he got his masters from Stanford! If he can do it without resources...

What's impossible doesn't bother God. There is a flow of abundance that is completely inconsistent with what we “know”. But it tells us there is more to this consciousness. What this is, is when you say “yes”, that's your purpose. It constantly unfolds in our lives. And in this time of powerful human consciousness, you can always go deeper! We are on purpose! The universe opens up and provides. It is “fulfillment”. The whole universe is wired to fulfill your purpose!

On 9/11 Kimeli wanted to respond to the pain he saw in Americans. Now held in honor, he went to his tribe at “storytime”. (Without technology, they communicate through their stories.) Kimeli went and told how the generous people in America were hurting. The Maasai couldn't even conceive of a place like New York City. But he asked for permission from the elders to give his cow to the Americans. In Kenya, a person's cow is their most important possession. Having one is comfort, it is security, it is life. The Maasai were very touched by his story and decided to give 14 cows! They asked the American ambassador to receive their gift. At the ceremony a thousand Maasai in full warrior dress sang the Star Spangled Banner with their hands over their hearts!

Kimeli's response had been one of compassion and generosity. All along the way he had a consciousness of generosity. Jesus taught, as you give you will receive. Abundance comes not to us or for us, but through us. “...for God so loved the world that he gave his only son. For who so ever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” This quote is mostly used in other ways, but here are the words love and give. What is given is the Son—the divine pattern, the Christ, the Atman, the Buddha Mind, the I Am. Out of love. Jesus showed us the pattern and it is in everyone of us. God doesn't give because we ask, but because it is the very nature of the divine. God can't reject. Yes, we can reject, but it is not in God's nature. Life always flows abundantly.

And there is always the next step. This week look for the opportunity to be more generous, every day, with your time, understanding, compassion. Listen. “Divine generosity flows freely through me.” This is when it gets to be fun! It's ok to give away the cow!

Living The Charmed Life, The Power of Three, part II

From Sheila Gautreaux (edited by Mike McGuire, not reviewed by the speaker)

Bring forth your power. Align with each level of the trinity of your being—MIND, BODY and SPIRIT. Live the “charmed” life of a spiritual being in a physical body. We are created by the goodness of the universe, so all the power of the universe is in us.

Grasp the Divine MIND Truth and align with it, bring it into your MIND. Chant it, affirm it, speak it throughout the day every day until you KNOW it. Then bring it into your physical BODY. FEEL it in every cell in your BODY, displacing belief in tiredness and illness. “I feel I am whole!” No feeling; no healing. Once you feel it, Spirit takes it out into the BODY of your affairs.

The Holy SPIRIT is our liaison with the mind of God, and is always available. Sit in quiet. Write your question at the top of a sheet of paper. Start by praying 3 times, “Come, Holy SPIRIT”. The response is actually palpable. You will feel it. Then ask. You will be guided as to “What is mine to do?”

We are afraid of our power because we don't understand. God is not powerful, but power. God is not loving, but love. God is not peaceful, God is peace. Live life as if you ARE blessed, charmed, powerful.

Steps to “Living the Charmed Life”: Accept your power. It's yours. Affirm it. “I accept the divine power that flows through me, as me!” Learn. Discover what you're capable of. Apply the powers in the laboratory of your life. Apply; apply. Practice; practice; practice. Face and vanquish your demons of fear, judgment, hurt, anger, etc. They prevent you from standing in your power. Don't run from your doubts and fears. They are illusions and are not as powerful as you believe. Once you shine the light they disappear. Don't let them and their relatives move in. Bar the door. Lastly, protect the innocent—the innocent that you are. We have not lost our innocence. We are still the pure, innocent beings we were with God before the world was made.

Be the Christ in the world. When you walk out all suited up in your power you will begin to bring transformation into the world! Your light will shine so brilliantly! People will feel it.

Pray the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi as “Lord, make me an instrument of your POWER. Where there is hatred, let me so love...” and so on. You are the beloved of God. It is God's good pleasure to support you in living the charmed life!

Reveal The Beauty

From Rev. David McArthur (edited by Mike McGuire, not reviewed by the speaker)

A Mystical Experience.  The accomplished pianist Komiko tells that when she was 13, she went snorkeling, and a trio of dolphins came and played all around her. Imagine the joy, the beauty, the very quality of life in that moment! Thereafter she awakened nightly to music. She could see the notes and would write them down. It was a mystical experience. She could see more clearly the amazing beauty of life itself. She saw the experience of the presence of God as beauty, and was transformed.

The only thing to see.  You know the only thing that is there is the presence of God, so the only thing to see is the beauty. Like Harry Potter, use your magic wand to direct the intention of both your mind (which focuses) and the power of your heart (which transforms). Focus your intention. Then, when you are ready, use the very special incantation “Reveal the Beauty. Reveal the Beauty. Reveal the Beauty”. It isn't often instantaneous. Sometimes you have to try pretty hard, but it is always there. It transforms barriers.

The Navajo pray

In beauty may I walk; All day long may I walk
Through the returning seasons may I walk...
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk
With dew about my feet may I walk; With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me may I walk; With beauty behind me may I walk
With beauty above me may I walk; With beauty all around me may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk...
It is finished in beauty; It is finished in beauty

Use the spell.  It is the heart of the mystical experience. You experience the touch of the divine. Your homework this week is to use the spell, the intention to transform, to reach through and see that beauty. And treasure the result! Then turn that wand inward upon yourself and “Reveal the Beauty” there, for you are the presence of that beauty, the presence of the divine!

What Is Love?

From Rev. David McArthur (edited by Mike McGuire, not reviewed by the speaker)

What is love, really?  Charles Fillmore, that great American mystic, said that the faculty of love is the greatest power of man, the greatest of all our capacities. “The pure essence of Being that binds together the whole human family... that joins and binds in divine harmony the universe and everything in it; the great harmonizing principle known to man. Divine love is impersonal; it loves for the sake of loving. … Like the sun, its joy is in the shining forth of its nature. … Love is the great harmonizer and healer.”

Compassion.  A woman, Nettie, remembered that when she was 12 she joined other kids in meanly ridiculing her twin sister, who was severely disabled and seen as a freak in their small town. So her mother put her alone in a room with only a photo album. It was filled with pictures of the twins since they were small. Nettie saw the pain that her sister had endured over the years. One picture was inscribed, “The doctors give me pain. Nettie makes me laugh.”  She realized what she had been doing and the hurt she had caused her sister. At that moment she changed.

Flow.  Love is always there. It flows like a spigot that's always dripping. We can choose how much to turn it on. That flow takes you to intelligence. It is intelligence, a capacity to understand that helps us resolve the differences, that illuminates and harmonizes. What unifies us rather than separates us is love. You don't have to know how.

You know what to do.  A four year old liked to go to the house next door. One day his mother watched as he crawled up beside the neighbor on the front porch swing. The man had recently lost his wife of many years. As she watched her son coming back home, she asked what he did there. He answered, “I helped him cry.” If a four year old knows what to do, so do you. Remove that which separates us. You are love. It takes us from that place of separation to that place of wholeness and harmony. It goes far beyond the walls and heals and harmonizes. Feel the spigot open as you say, “I am a radiating center of divine love.” YES YOU ARE!

Aladdin—No Fear In Oneness

From Rev. David McArthur (edited by Mike McGuire, not reviewed by the speaker)

Our journey of consciousness. Aladdin lived in poverty and always felt he had to take from others. As we do at this level, he felt like a victim. At this “miserable sinner” level we are asleep to divine love. Then when adversity shows up we feel it proves we are of no value. Through adversity, though, Aladdin is brought to caves filled with treasure (the subconscious) where he finds many many beautiful things. When you overcome adversity, you feel power. This changed Aladdin's consciousness. Feeling that he now had some power, some value, he didn't need to steal. And he could love. Goodness showed up out of the bad. At this level we are still asleep, but how we think of ourselves has changed. We feel we can get a little good from life, from the adversity, from the bad.

Spiritual awakening. You are not miserable sinners. Then Aladdin sees the princess and falls in love. The head experiences the heart. Aladdin now has purpose. He feels he has value. He now sees that power is for serving the purpose, to serve wholeness. The genie (which fulfills the power of the heart) creates for Aladdin and the princess their own palace away from the Sultan, who is the Father figure. (They woke up; they now know they are children of God.) At this level, you know you are fine and wonderful just the way you are. The world loves you.

There is only good and more good.Then the princess and the palace were taken by the sorcerer and Aladdin knew “it had been too good to be true”. This is believing in 2 powers, good and bad. As long as you believe it, it'll show up. But Aladdin went back to the heart. The resolution was not through the thoughts (Aladdin) but through the heart (the princess). She denied life to the 2^nd power (the sorcerer); she killed him. Love overcomes fear. That's the gift.

The truth.  The One Power dwells within man and all other beings and throughout the universe. One. In the heart, which knows the truth, there is no fear. No tension. No nervousness. You are at one with every other living person on Earth. No separateness. You have touched this oneness—with babies, with good friends, or in the silence. Nothing else is real. We can manifest and play with a 2^nd power, but it is not the truth. God is good all the time! There is only one presence, one power—the all loving goodness of God! And that's the truth!

Journey Into Oneness

From Rev. David McArthur (edited by Mike McGuire, not reviewed by the speaker)

We are one.  We really are one. It doesn't look that way. It appears that you are separate from me. Emilie Cady said, “Man, who is at first living in the selfish animal part of himself, will grow up ...to the divine or spiritual understanding wherein he knows that he is one with the Father...” The Father is the part of the divine that loves and cares for us, and is within us, yet is infinite.

You are one with that other political candidate, and more troubling, all those people you just don't get who support that candidate. When watching the debate, I first felt condescension for them. It was an experience of separation, viewing them as less than. It was uncomfortable. I thought maybe I should try something different. I stepped back and I saw that all the people really cared. A sense of connection took place. I stepped farther back and saw all the country experiencing a polarization which hurt, and I felt compassion. How difficult it is to work with those hugely complex issues! And I saw that the polarity blocks clarity, and our fears are surfacing. When we fail to see that the One Power cares for us all, we instead empower our fears. We see ourselves as separate and different. We fail to see our oneness unfolding in the most important vote, which is for care.

All you see you are.  This world can't see beyond its opposites, or see our oneness. That comes from within us. Jean Houston: “I was no longer just Jean Houston, age 6. I had awakened to a consciousness that spanned centuries. Everything was important. It was as if I knew everything, was connected to everything. I was an infinite being.” She said, “It's your true self.” Alfred Lord Tennyson told that from boyhood he frequently had a “waking trance” in which it was as if individuality was gone and he was part of the “boundless pure being”. Vedanta teaches “Thou art that. All you see you are. Thou art one with the Universal Being. Every soul is your soul. Every body is your body. The Universe is my body.” We journey to consciously touch and know that.

This beautiful connection teaches us our oneness. We sense the presence, the power, the oneness. We touch that beautiful wisdom moving through life, and see that God is good all the time! God is good all the time! All the time God is good! Practice this chance to vote for love!