A Vision of Beauty

Love is the self-givingness of the Spirit through the desire of Life to express Itself in terms of creation. Emerson tells us that Love is a synonym for God.  We are also told in the New Testament that “He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.” Love is free from condemnation, even as it is free from fear. Love is a cosmic force whose sweep is irresistible. ~Ernest Holmes

What gets in the way of letting Love live through us? It's all the Universe wants, right, to Love through and as us? But, what blocks are hidden in our belief systems? Some are because of cultural conditioning and some are because they are too close for us to see them in ourselves, even when others can see it clearly. Our vision of beauty gets skewed by our perceptions. In the Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes tells us:

Love does not overcome hate and fear by argument or force, but by some subtle Power of transformation, transmutation, sublimation, invisible in Its essence but apparent through Its act.

Not always easy to do the right thing, take high road? However, it gets easier as we get clearer on what one wants to bring into this world and answers the the question -who I Am, who I want to be. When I do the right thing, I feel a rightness, a centered-ness, like a cog on a gear slotting into the correct place. Sometimes you can even hear the *clink* or *click* of the connection. People like Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman and Mitt Romney showed their integrity, acting in principle,  in the last few months (as many others), taking the highest road, answering the questions above.

As light overcomes the darkness...so the radiant presence of Love and Peace dissipates fear, hate, and confusion.  ~Science Of Mind 331.2

When I love or act from Love (kindness and compassion, as well as passion), it is from a most intimate connection with the Divine, a communion, actually. Love is an ultimate principle, an engagement with my True Self, a manifestation of Divine Love - this is the highest calling and the road to peace of mind and body.

But what about my enemies? How do I love them? Note, I am talking about love not like! Well, some people don't like you or won't like you because of the way you walk, talk, your talents and abilities (versus theirs) or your popularity with others; mayber your hair or skin color or spiritual ideals are a factor, as well. It's usually not because you did something to them, but from various jealousies or biases or perceptions; mostly from ignorance. And we all can have some ignorance and must look at them, see our hidden hates, biases, judgments, blames, and root them out. We must love our enemies, yes, but that doesn't mean we have to approve their actions or ideas to disprove their power over us.

In the flush of love’s light, we dare be brave. And suddenly we see that love costs all we are, and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free. ~Maya Angelou 

We must learn to remove false beliefs and engage with our True or Higher Self. Choose from a place where Love is present; what are you for versus what are you against. Focusing on what you want, not what you don't want, puts you in the realm of positivism, optimization, acting through love, and acting without the malaise of hate, anger or depression.

[We] must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love.    ~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

What does all this mean? We only have control over what we think, feel, say and do; our job is to optimize that control. Recent weeks Have been tough, no matter your politics or whether or not you live in China, trying to count ballots, or standing for your principles. Will you see life as a struggle and full of unloving people or move forward optimizing the ideas, actions and people you surround yourself with? Do you see disappointments and desperation, hate and negative inevitability or lessons and possibilities? What will be your vision of beauty?

I am not asking you to ignore the dysfunction in our society, but to have a vision of beauty. Not to put on rose-colored glasses, but to see the full picture, supporting that which adds to the creation of beauty, which, in turn, diminishes and rids us of the dysfunction. You can meet it headlong without butting heads. Pour more love, peace, goodwill, kindness, wisdom, humor, integrity, and time, treasure and talent into changing the world, the country and your community. It's not always quick, but love overwhelms hate and Light always removes the darkness.





Affirmation
What do I see?
Through my eyeballs, the creative force of Spirit expresses in all:  nature's splendor - coloring fields and meadows, a soaring flock of purple martins - free and joyously adventurous, the unconditional wonderment and love through the lens of a puppy or babe,  and other such things. And with insight, I commune with the Universe, expressing Its power, grace, vitality, prosperity and love in all I think, feel, believe and experience.
TODAY ROCKS!

I See God In Everything

A couple had 2 little boys, ages eight & ten, who were always getting into trouble ... if any mischief occurred in town, their two sons were somehow involved.

At their wits end, the parents contacted a clergyman  who had been successful in rehabilitating children. He agreed and asked to see the boys individually. 

The eight-year-old was sent to meet with him first. The clergyman sat the boy down, looked him sternly in the eye and asked, "Where is God?"   The boy made no response, so the clergyman repeated the question, more sternly, "Where is God?"  Again the boy did not answer, so the clergyman raised his voice even more & shook his finger, "WHERE....IS....GOD?"  At that, the boy bolted from the room, ran home and slammed himself in his closet … shaking.

His older brother followed him into the closet and asked, "What happened, what happened … what did they say, are we in trouble?"  The 8 year old looked up, tears rolling down his trembling face and replied, "We are in BIG trouble this time. God is missing and they think we did it!"

Of course, God is never missing, we're just looking the other way.  Can we really see God...in everything? Many think not 

God is forever beyond the reach of...the intellectual faculty; but by means of...the loving faculty, [It] can be fully grasped by each individual being.  God can well be loved, but cannot be thought. By love, can be grasped and held, but by thought neither grasped nor held.  God is eternal, the human mind is finite. If God could be comprehended, surrounded by a concept, this would make us greater than God. We invent the illusion that God is a thing that we lack and must therefore seek, find, and control...  ~14th century Christian mystic, The Cloud of Unknowing

What do you think of that?  Talk about duality b. s. Some, like St. Augustine, said It could be located:

But when unknown to me you caressed my head,
and when you closed my eyes lest they see things that would seduce me,
I began for a little while to forget about myself,
and my madness was lulled to sleep.
When I awoke in you, I saw very differently,
infinite in a very different sense.
But what I saw was not seen with the eye of the body.

Augustine, like many of us, searched for God where it is said It cannot be found—outside oneself, in conquest, career and ambition. He got woke in Spirit, beholding what only the inner eye can see: 
...the infinite possibilities of the One Mind
...the luminous vastness that we are part of
...a Power we can forget, ignore or reveal by choice of thought, feeling and belief. 

But is it only the inner eye that can see Spirit? It is true that when we employ the Divine Matrix it becomes less an intellectual exercise and more of a communion, realization and transcendence ...to know in our heart, is to know in our head. Our what (profession, status, finances, etc.) is not our who (Truth – Individualization of the Divine), but our who is in our what. We just require the eyesight and insight to see God is in everything; the outside just doesn't make us who we are.

In metaphysics, as in everything else, we are dealing with a proposition which is the substance of things which are not seen by physical eye. The human eye only sees things which are effect; the human hand touches only that which is effect; and we are very apt to say these are controlled by law. That is true, everything must be governed by law. Law controls everything, absolutely. But we are not as apt to realize that the law itself is an effect.   ~Ernest Holmes, Love and Law 

How we see things -our perspective, our perception- is how we are effected by those things.  Spirit is only in everything when we allow it to be. Sometimes that takes a beginner's mindset, a zen practice called Shoshin.

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few.  ~Shunryu Suzuki

When we reach the end of what we know, that’s where we find God in everything.



Ilia Delio, a Franciscan Sister and theologian wrote in Birth of a Dancing Star: My Journey from Cradle Catholic to Cyborg Christian about the ideas of God's love from the writings of Dyonisius the Areopagite (or Denis, for short), a judge from the late 5th/early 6th century:

God’s love is so tremendous ... like a sober drunk, falling over Itself in the desire to share divine life.  God, [is] the eros of divine love. God, the agape, gives Its God-self away.

Which we individualize

 We long for God because God longs for us

It experiences life through us, as us

God, the volcanic eruption of divine life ... seemingly hidden, but revealed and accessed by way of Its manifested creation, eternally desires to give Itself away in love so we can give ourselves in love

And what is that eruption called?

There is a Divine urge within everyone to know more, to be more, and to express more, and I have found that the thing we are searching for is the thing we are searching with.   ~Ernest Holmes

Good, bad, destructive, constructive; all is the same in God ... a non-judgmental force for Good (which has no positive or negative aspect to It). For example, the story of the great ancient flood, Noah's flood. Bible tells a big story of how God is mad and wants to start over with Noah and the family and two of everything.  It's a metaphor, a fable, a lesson. God wasn't mad, that was humankind's self-destructive consciousness in play. Again, it's a lesson to teach that human consciousness as a whole, race consciousness (as it is sometimes called) is powerful both in Mind and action. What we do with that lesson, is how we experience and see God in everything. Heck, the kidney stones I experienced years ago (which was no picnic) and the standing ovations (which was) - both God. My divorce and my inspiring others in my ministry - both God. All were in and through the Divine Presence. What I do with those experiences in joy or learning or both is what's important. Neither were examples of God mad or happy, punishing or rewarding. All is a reward, even if I don't like the "prize," I love it and see God in It. I see God in everything:  sorrow or happiness, joy is in the experience and/or the lesson.

Wisdom is knowledge deepened by love. The wise person knows more deeply by way of love than by way of argument because the eye of the heart can see the truth of reality. Hence the wise person is one who knows and sees God shining through everything, even what seems ugly or despised.  ~Ilio Delio

Ernest Homes tells us, “We are to look for God in each other and love this God, forgetting all else." Yes, I may sometimes not like the experience, but as I move through it and past it, I learn from it, because Spirit was in it.

I see God in everything, because It is!

Affirmation
Seeing Is BE-ing
I have 20/20 vision for 2020. Perfect sight lit by the flame of my faith that reveals the Divinity in me.  I look in the right places, spot the right ideas, view the best questions, and perceive the greatest answers.  I open my mind to the most wondrous, inspiring magnificence. I open my heart to  recognize love so pure. And I identify inspiration at every turn.

Elemental Living - FIRE

A physicist, a mathematician, and a mystic were asked to name the greatest invention of all time.
The physicist chose the fire, which gave humanity the power over matter.
The mathematician chose the alphabet, which gave humanity power over symbols.
The mystic chose the thermos bottle.
 "Why a thermos bottle?" the others asked.
 "Because the thermos keeps hot liquids hot and cold liquids cold."
 "Yeah -- so what?"
 "Think about it." said the mystic, “That little bottle -- how does it *know*?"


Today I want to talk about an element of the earth plane and the spiritual realm. It is a powerful source of energy that enlightens, illuminates and inspires or can burn and destroy. It is something that needs to be fed, nurtured, and tended to or it will distinguish, if ever start at all. It is a primal force in our bodies, showing up as metabolism, and in out hearts as love, as well it is found in our minds as drive, intention, and desire. The Hindu/Vedic tradition has a diety called Agni, a symbol of communication and immortality, which comes from this element. In Greek mythology, the Titan Prometheus gave this element to humanity, which represents and forges our passion, zeal, creativity, motivation, spontaneity, intuition. It is FIRE.

Fire has four needed components to exist; as do we in our inward fire. It requires:
1) Fuel that will burn, which in Mind is the idea.
2) Heat to make the fuel burn, which in Mind and heart is the passion for the idea.
3)  Air or oxygen, which in Mind, heart, and gut is the imagination, intuition and love that feeds the idea we are passionate about.
4) Chain Reaction or a feedback of heat to the fuel to produce the gases used in the flame, which, in Life, is the intentional, conscious use of the Law to manifest the idea that is feed by our imagination, intuition, and love; which we are passionate about.

There are several stages of fire, both the element and the kind in our belly:
1) Ignition, where fuel, oxygen and heat join together in a sustained chemical reaction. In Mind, it's the idea which ignites passion and imagination.
2) Growth, where the initial flame ignites additional fuel; which, in Mind and heart, is that idea ignited passion and imagination.
3) Fully developed is when the fire has spread over much if not all the available fuel, temperatures reach their peak, resulting in heat damage, and oxygen is consumed rapidly. In Mind, heart, and gut, it is the imagination, intuition, love and time that is devoted to the idea that ignited the passion and imagination, et al.
4) Decay or Burnout is the stage where fire consumes all the available fuel, the temperature decreases, the fire gets less intense, the burning material cools, the oxygen available lessens, the fuel is removed, and/or the chemical reaction is broken. In Life, that is when we bring in a consciousness of lack, other's opinions of our idea that squashes it, and/or things or other ideas about life that get in our way steps us into the decay and/or puts out the fired idea we were passionate about.

Like fire, our ideas are or can be burning, fueling, igniting, or decaying. When it is decaying (and that can be early in the process or much later), this could happen:

I can almost see it
That dream I'm dreaming but
There's a voice inside my head saying
You'll never reach it,
Every step I'm taking, every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking     ~The Climb by Jessica Alexander and Jon Mabe 

To prevent that, here are three ways fire spreads, with both the element and the ideas we want to manifest:

 1) Conduction - heat energy passes through or within a material from direct contact with that material. In Life, that's when you start sharing the idea with others.
 2) Convection - fluid or gas flows from hot areas to cooler ones. In Mind, Heart, and Gut (the Divine Matrix), and in Life, that is when we are in harmony with idea, passion, imagination, inspiration and the allies it is shared with
 3) Radiation: Heat travels via electromagnetic waves in all directions, without objects or gases carrying it. Same happens in the Divine Matrix and life when the idea is shared both in the consciousness and physical realms.

More from the song:

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

Now the above lyric is not necessarily true or gonna happen, unless that is where your consciousness or general perception of your ideas lies; however it is always a journey. The ebbs and flows of enthusiasm are constant bedfellows, even in what are considered very successful ideas. Take these three examples:
Apple. Following the 1985 departure of Steve Jobs, till his re-hire 12 years later, the company operated at a loss, creeping close to bankruptcy. It is now worth $1 Trillion.

FedEx.  The company began in 1971, soon rising gas prices and logistics nightmares caused the  company to lose a million dollars a month, so that funds got as low as $5,000. Recent earnings were  $4.5 Billion.

Starbucks. Company first opened in 1971, Seattle, but it took 16 years to start expanding outside of town. It is now worth about $30 Billion.

The song again:

The struggles I'm facing, the chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down but
No, I'm not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm going to remember most

Yes, there may be mountains to climb, people or situations to get out of our way, a lack of education in this-that-or-the-other as far as marketing, logistics, etc. or a temporary lack of funds or of consciousness, but that is just part of the journey sometimes....emphasis on sometimes.

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.    ~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

We can come back from those sometime setbacks in the fruition or passion of our idea. To do so we can:

1. Pay attention to the successes, no matter size

2. Reflect on Purpose:  remind yourself why

3. Say Goodbye to What Hasn't Worked

4. Take Time to Rest, Rejuvenate, Schedule Joy

5. Re-Imagine, Re-wonder, Get Curious Again

There is a light in the soul that is uncreated and uncreatable...  ~Meister Eckhart

IT is a thing that is unconditioned, universal, birthless, deathless, infinite; an energy that lies at center of our Being. It is our Self-hood.

My me is God: nor do I know my self-hood except in God.                       ~Saint Catherine of Genoa

What is our self-hood? In Indian mysticism, it is the divine core, the atman; translated as“the Self.” For the Gnostics, it is the portion of God that resides within each human being, the Divine Spark. Every time something is born, there is a divine spark - all individuals, all creatures, all of life. Self-Hood is That Divine Spark in You.

All the power and intelligence of the Universe is already within, waiting to be utilized. The Divine Spark must be fanned into a blaze of the living Fire of your own divinity.  ~Ernest Holmes, Creative Mind and Success

Let us take the time to re-fan the flames till our consciousness once again catches up to our idea, passion, and intention. Last bit of the song, the inspirational part:

But I Gotta keep trying,
Gotta keep my head held high, Just got to keep going
And I gotta be strong, just keep pushing on
Keep on moving, Keep climbing
Keep the faith baby, It's all about the climb

What are you climbing? Is it with having the perspective and assurance that the Universe has your back? Because, It does! At the end of play, Prometheus Unbound, by Percy Shelley, a character leaves Prometheus (the Titan who brought fire to humankind) with these words of wisdom:

To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;           
To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;         To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;           
To love, and bear; to hope till Hope creates     
From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;
Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent;           
This, like thy glory, Titan, is to be                    
Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free; 
This is alone Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory.         

Here's to your victory, success, passion, joy, beauty and love – the fire in your belly made manifest!

You Are Ablaze With the Glory of the Divine.....Use IT.

Affirmation
I Am Ablaze With The Glory of The Divine
The passion I have for life burns with the power and presence of the Big Bang. In an explosion of Spirit, I spread my love, grace, peace, and kindness throughout the world.  I shine with pride and respect, illuminating any darkness with Light.  I face this day with joy in my heart, zeal and determination in my walk, and a fire in my belly to do great, live great and Be with greatness!              I Vibrate At The Speed of The Divine!

Elemental Living - WATER

It saves lives and it destroys life

It can heal and it can spread illness and disease

It cleanses and purifies and, if polluted, dirties

It can still the mind, calm the heart and cool the pain or it can infuse fear and dread

It is a key component of rituals and ceremonies, blessings and holiness

It is a dynamic and the most important molecule of life

It is Water

Water is powerful – an element of living. It can dissolve more substances than any other liquid, including sulfuric acid. Seventy to eighty percent of the human brain is water and about 66% of the human body is water. It regulates the Earth’s temperature and it is alive and active, covering our planet. A person can live about a month without food, but only about a week without water. There is an estimated 326 million trillion gallons of water on earth. That's 90,921.8 drops per gallon, with each drip having 1.67 sextillion (21 zeroes) molecules per drop. 

Water molecules are unique among molecule family. They are adhesive; similar, our belief system bonds us to the Law. They are cohesive; similar, our thoughts and feelings get stuck with our habits, beliefs, perceptions, and perspectives. Like our feelings, water is a universal solvent.  Like our body, mind, heart and gut, water has polarity - it is slightly charged on both ends (like our conflicting ideas and actions).  Like many of us, at various times, it is fluid or frozen or steamy.... another word might be gassy (and who isn't now and again?). Like an active mind and body, moving and circulating, water is energized and energizing; and like a sedentary life, still water is effectively dead or dying. And finally, like our consciousness, water is the ideal medium for processes, because it is a dynamic medium; without water, nothing in the or our environment can change and without consciousness, our lives don't change.

Water is a powerful living system that can be influenced by our thoughts, feelings and beliefs - it communicates and has memory. Dr. Masaru Emoto experimented on how emotions effect ice crystals. You might have heard of these experiments in his book or in the film, WHAT THE BLEEP. There was a double-blind experiment with his ideas at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). They found that intention can influence the formation of water crystals. Remember, that our brain is 70%-80% water, so our consciousness, feelings, and thoughts have a great affect on it and our body (average of 66% water).

And water teaches us...

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, is dripping with many lessons (you could also watch the movie for most of these). The lesson is bolded and underlined:

You Are Enough Right Now

Inside each of us resides the truth.... But sometimes the truth is hidden in a hall of mirrors. Sometimes we believe we are viewing the real thing, when in fact we are viewing a facsimile, a distortion.

We too, must shatter the mirrors. We must look in to ourselves and root out the distortions until that thing which we know in our hearts is perfect and true, stands before us.

Declare Your Choice of Focus

In racing, your car goes where your eyes go.

The best drivers don’t dwell on the future or the past. The best drivers focus only on the present. Reflection must come at a later time.

You Are Your Own Pit Crew – When Manifesting...

No race was ever won in the first corner but many have been lost there.

At some point, in every race, well, you got to take a risk if you want to win.

It’s not about a heavier foot. It’s about feel.

When the driver has the courage to create his own conditions, the rain is simply rain.

I could add more explanation to the quotes, but I want you to contemplate them, based on my lesson title, and find meaning through your intuition. This all reminds me of a fable:

An unhappy young man came to an old master and told him he had a very sad life and asked for a solution.

The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and drink it.

“How does it taste?” – the Master asked.

“Terrible.” – spat the apprentice.

The Master smiled and asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked to the nearby lake and the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake.

The old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”

As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the Master asked, “How does it taste?”

“Good!” – remarked the apprentice.

“Do you taste the salt?” – asked the Master.

“No.” – said the young man.

The Master sat beside this troubled young man and said, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the ‘pain’ depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

To live at our fullest, we must become the lake - flush out the negative with overflowing positive, fill our minds and hearts with the best words, the loftiest ideas, and the most loving thoughts. This gives you a base, empowered by Truth, to endure, optimize, be smart, be centered and grounded, and have vitality, joy, wisdom and love be the place from which you think, decide, and take action. 

With this strength, you can overcome any negative and manifest your best life!!!

Affirmation
My Life is Buoyant
I float in a sea of confidence...solid yet fluid, assured and vulnerable, drenched in power and impact, knowledgeable yet teachable, daring and bold within rivers of wisdom, brave and adventurous while gliding in waves of prudence; and sodden, soaked and soused with the beauty, joy, love, peace, grace and intelligence of Life Itself.
I AM Awash in the Presence of the Divine!