Factory Settings

This is our theme this month.

When we break it down, the word has a great meaning that usually isn't concentrated on or used:

RE means again or again and again 

TREAT means Behavior:  how we regard, discuss or act toward ourselves/others. It also means Healing:  how we tend to or minister to ourselves and others. In addition, it means Celebration:  how we gift, pleasure, share and amuse ourselves and others. Finally, it is the application of a process:  how we prime and prepare ourselves or others, our minds, with thoughts, feelings and beliefs. A process would include spiritual mind treatment, prayer, meditation, etc.  So you could say that to retreat is to again and again be in a process of celebrating the healing and the revealing of our best selves. It is the application of returning to our factory settings.

Treat is also a Swedish hard rock band from the 80's, but today, I am writing about our Factory Settings. Originally, I was going to call this, “Make a Fresh Start,” but it sounded as if we go out of date, like a gallon of milk. Then I came up with, “Waking Up to the Original You,” but instead of concentrating on the new or the old, I decided I wanted to concentrate on the original; the factory settings of who and what we are.

Remember a few months ago, I described how we got here, our origins? It was in the context of how the Genesis tale and the Big Bang theory connected. Let me tell it again, quickly:

Once upon a time there was an energy, a force, a Divine Intelligence. Within the vastness of It's Mind, It decided to express Itself by creating a vast cosmos of planets, moons, galaxies, and suns - each an unique, individual, and special idea. Some places were very cold and rocky, dry and bland; others were hot and powerful; and others of great beauty and color.

Then this Powerful Source noticed something, “Hey, it's dark.” Another idea lit up Its Mind and the Source of all created a powerful celestial body that emitted rays throughout a Milky Way (not the candy bar). This Divine Intelligence thought, “Wow, very cool. I speak my Word and call these rays, light. Great, now I can see things. Light, I like it, it is Good.” And the planets, moons, etc. expressed themselves by spinning around.

After a while, Divine Intelligence got bored. “Now what?”, It thought. This Divine Intelligence decided to work on a specific celestial body, a planet, let's call it Gaia (no),Terra (no, sounds like a plantation), uhhhh, Earth (not sure, what that means, but whatever), let's call it Earth. So this Earth was the project of the week for Divine Intelligence to express Itself. And Divine Intelligence … omg, it takes so long to say that ... Divine Intelligence … wait, we'll call It God from now on. So God...hey, It's just a word...God decided to plant Itself by decorating this Earth place with nice green and brown flooring, a pretty blue ceiling, and also seed the place with nice art, like fruit-bearing trees, herbs, and flowers. It stepped back and said Its Word again, “Mmm, Good” and then napped.

The next day, God looked around and thought “Nice place, but it's a little quiet.” So It made the animals, the birds, and the fish. They barked, roared, chirped, meowed, and buzzed; squirmed, swam, flew, creeped and many other things. And God liked that and decided that was Good...and napped again.

The next day God was looking around and decided that It needed to express ItSelf a little more boldly. Maybe a bit more drama might be interesting. “Maybe a creature that does more than eat, poop, and mate,” It said to Itself, “something that has access to my powers of creation. Hmmm, now that would be interesting. If I gave this creature the power to manifest any and everything they desired, positive and negative (whatever they decide that means), that would be interesting. This creature would have unlimited possibilities in their life, choose which thoughts and ideas to grab on to and manifest in their life....that would be interesting. I will speak my Word and make it so … in fact, I will make it so that they will be able to speak their word and make it so. Way cool!”

And God said, “And so It is.” and took a nap...and so it was!

This illustrates what our factory settings are, what we might have forgotten in the last few months or years of the energy and presence that produced all that is. Rumi reminds us: 

You were born with greatness
You were born with wings
You are not meant for crawling, so don't!
You have wings
Learn to use them and fly.

It is time to reboot our perspective on life, return to our factory settings in this regard. We get so wrapped up in tweaking and living life, we have forgotten those factory settings. George MacDonald, a Scottish poet, author, minister once said: 

Sometimes I wake up and lo I have forgot!

There was a four year old girl named Sarah who had a new baby sister, Julie. She wanted to spend some time alone with Julie. She asked her parents if she could go alone into Julie's room to speak with her for a bit. The parents were a bit skeptical at first, but decided it was okay as they had a baby monitor in the room. So off went Sarah to Julie's room. As she closed the door, her parents rushed to their bedroom and huddled around the baby monitor. They heard Sarah step to the crib, the creaking sound from her leaning over the railing informing them of where she now stood. After a moment, they heard Sarah whisper to Julie, "Hey Julie, I am beginning to forget...tell me about God."

We begin to forget who we are, where we came from and what's going on in the Universe. Dr. Ernest Holmes, author of The Science of Mind, started radio show with, "There is a Power for Good in the Universe, greater than we are, and you get to use It." You are using It right now. Don't you want to use it for bringing good stuff into your life?  Remembering who we are and where we come from is the Ctrl Alt Delete of the human experience. As with the computer, it is the reset/reboot/restart/re-treat process of returning to our roots, so to speak. It is a return to a state of Mind and Being, synchronized with the Divine.

Make for me a sanctuary and I will dwell in it. ~Exodus 25:8

This scripture text is not talking about a building, it is talking about consciousness. Put Source into the sanctuary called YOU and It shall dwell in it. Now, of course, the Divine is within you already, but to the degree you are conscious of it is what is important here. Your perspective on life derives from your faith and connection to the Divine.  Only you have the Power to make that connection, to make joy, the state of Being derived from being consciously and intentionally connected to the Divine,  the state of mind you want to live in.

We need to have a relentless appetite for the Divine. We need a holy ravenousness, to be that Divine that is you. We need to have a ravenousness for that which we are....return to our factory settings. Remember:

You are the actor, the director and the playwright in your life. 

You are also the casting director: what roles are you casting yourself in? 

You are the sculptor: how will you mold your life? 

You are the painter: what colors and shapes will you present to the world? 

You are the gardener: what seeds will you plant 

and how will you nourish those seeds to burgeon into beauty? 

Awaken to the old you, the original you, the Divine You. Be the YOU of your factory settings and BE the creation YOU want to be! Sometimes we have to reboot, so go ahead, push Ctrl Atl Delete; that's okay – it's partially why you are here, to re-treat to the factory settings every once in awhile.

Retreating is not like what they do in wartime and it's not like reliving a past; it is more like returning to what Emma Curtis Hopkins said in THE RADIANT I AM:

I know that I AM at my own Center, authority over and through my universe, and I shall ordain my ... powers, to spread my Original Nature abroad till, from me to the utmost stretches, all is my Divine Ego.

And by Divine Ego, she means Entertaining God Only.

The I Am is you! Divine Intelligence has embedded Itself in you. The kingdom of heaven is in you, that is the factory setting....infinite possibilities, which knows no age, creed, race, gender, etc. God in you, as you, for you and with you!

This month, as you begin to Re-Treat your Mind – reboot to the factory settings and reveal the Divinity in You and watch your life soar and zoom into its greatest experiences!




Affirmation I return to my greatness. I return to my best.
I restore to my birthright with excitement and zest.
I come back to the moment when all life made sense.
I return to my magnificence and walk away from the rest.