Seeds of Faith

 

Do you ever feel like that Billy Preston song:

I've got a song I ain't got no melody

I've got a story ain't got no moral

I've got a dance I ain't got no steps,

Will [I] go around in circles?

Will [I] fly high like a bird up in the sky?

 

Been wondering that lately? I have...

In honor of National Book Lovers Day, I want to start out with a literary quote that describes what's going on in many heads right now.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.  ~Charles Dickens, A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Today I want to talk to you about the best of times, the worst of times. Whether it is considered heaven or hell...it is merely a state of mind

I have four questions for you:

• What's your state of mind lately?
• Are you holding the high watch for yourself?
• Do you feel your life is sacred?
• Where are you aiming your thoughts, feelings, beliefs and actions toward lately?

Don't be afraid to admit it if the last few weeks/months have taken a toll on your faith. Let me tell you a story:

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat. He had an old rickety shotgun, barely staying together, and three shells. So, he decided that he would go out and kill something for dinner.

As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit and he shot at the rabbit and missed it. Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it.

As he went further, near the pond, he saw a wild turkey in the tree and he had only one bullet, he had to make this one count. A voice came to him and said "pray first, aim high and stay focused."

Suddenly, he saw a deer which was a better kill. So he brought the gun down and aimed at the deer.  But then he noticed a rattle snake between his legs about to bite him, so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattle snake.

Then again, the voice rang out, "I said 'pray, aim high and stay focused.' " So, the man decided to listen to the voice. He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey. The bullet struck the turkey, then bounced off a bone, ricocheted and killed the deer. The kickback from the shot caused the handle to fall off the gun and hit the snake in the head, killing it. At the same time, the gun going off knocked him into the pond.

When he stood up out of the water to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and turkey to eat and the snake was dead. All this bounty simply because the man listened to the Divine within and used his power of decision to aim high.

A shot like that may miss the mark in archery, but in life, when you pray first or use any of your spiritual practices, while knowing the unchangeable Truth that the Universe is on your side, aiming high with your goals, taking small steps, if you must, and staying focused on that sacred Truth, showing the Universe which side you are on, these seeds of faith manifest into an abundant life 

...when you discover what faith is, you will find that misguided faith can also cause mountains to fall on you as well. Whatever you have faith in, you create—good or bad. When the principle of faith becomes a conscious activity, your destiny is in your own hands … you go beyond having faith into being faith-full …. Faith isn’t something we have; faith is something we do. Faith is an energy. Faith is the power inherent in what we see or perceive. If faith is the substance of things hoped for, then faith becomes our “seeing” because what we image or see manifests outwardly in form.   ~Walter Starke, It's All God; Flowers and Fertilizer

This seeing that Starke is referencing, may begin or re-start small...

It’s like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge in its branches. ~ Mark 4:31

Remember, black mustard seed is very small and very powerful....like our thoughts. However, with nurturing of sun, soil and water, it grows exponentially like our thoughts and feelings. Habitual nurturing makes it grow 9 feet tall like our accumulation of thoughts and feelings into beliefs. And  this 9 foot tall tree is embedded into the ground like our beliefs are nestled in our subconscious, informing the Universe the color and flavor of the experiences to arrive.

How embedded is your faith? can it survive a pandemic?

In THE RAVEN, Edgar Allan Poe grieved a lost love, probably his wife, Virginia, when he wrote:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door —

Only this, and nothing more." 

Poe was also mourning his faith in life itself. Indeed lost, he symbolically returned to a faith the size of a mustard seed. But, as the parable per Matthew's gospel continues...

If there is faith in you even as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move away from here, and it will move away; and nothing would prevail over you. 

Over so many months have past into this pandemic and it's time to reiterate how to be a conduit to our divine expression, how to return to our faith in life and how to aim high even when everything around you seems to aim low.

1) Stop Complaining, Start Creating

    Reprogram your conscious mind. When you start to lose faith, ask yourself, "what am I thinking?"

    You can always change the story that's going on in your head and focus on what you want. With thoughts and thinking, choosing what you want to think - shift then happens.

2) Reprogram Your Sub-conscious Mind

    Beliefs equals action. When you uncover the crap and release them, direct your attitudes to love, joy, compassion, and kindness; those values then will return to you.

3) Energize

    Commune and unify with the Creative Force of the Universe. We attract into our lives that which honors and supports that unity, dissolving that which doesn't. Our values and integrity are the first cause to the experiences we are having. The word integrity stems from the Latin word ‘integer’ which means 'whole and complete.' Consistent integrity allows your values to inform your words, decisions, choices, actions, intentions, methods and eventually, it will inspire your outcomes and experiences.

4) Elevate Your Vibrational Frequency

    Commit to keeping your eyes focused on the highest values:  love, forgiveness and gratitude. Energize your faith with AI's (Affirmative Incantations) or affirmations.

Hold fast to dreams 

for if dreams die 

life is a broken-winged bird 

that can not fly 

Hold fast to dreams 

for when dreams go 

life is a barren field 

frozen with snow ~Langston Hughes

At the end of “Tale of Two Cities,” Sydney Carlton, to redeem himself and express his love for Lucie, dies in the place of Charles Darnay. A both selfish and selfless act. he famously tells us:

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

It is a good selfish act to grow your faith and rid yourself of limiting thoughts. And it is a selfless act as you grow faith and rid the consciousness of our world the energy of limitation and lack.

Step into your highest watch

Soak in your highest values

Be the mustard seed and grow or regrow your faith nine feet tall

You can … you have the power! 

You are the greatest gardener there ever was or ever will be.

START PLANTING!

Affirmative Incantation

The glory of the Universe resides in me. Within are the highest values, ethics, principles and consciousness of the Most High, the Divine Presence, the Light and Love of the Creative Power. I choose to live in integrity with the highest values of love, honor, peace, kindness, laughter, respect and beauty. I am good enough right now, just as I am, to bloom into realizing my greatest dreams. Wow, I love life!