Resistance is Futile

 

Our theme for January was "Love It."  February brought us:

• Black History Month and part of the Season of Non-Violence
• Groundhog Day, Tater Tot, and Ukelele Day is also in February
• So is Washington, Lincoln, Bob Marley, and Frederick Douglass' Birthdays
• The Periodic Table has a day in February and so does doggy bones and toothaches
• The Chinese New Year was on the 12th – of the Ox
• The Jewish holiday, Purim was on the 26th, commemorating the victory of Queen Esther of Persia in saving the Jewish people from execution by Haman, the advisor to the king
• And Lent began on the 17th, reminding Christians of Yeshua's 40-day sacrifice in the desert

Lives to remember, foods to enjoy, events to commemorate, rituals in which to partake, ideas to contemplate, and of course, love to celebrate - so much in 28 days. But all of that is man-made. I say so not to lessen its significance, but to show its exquisiteness and uniqueness. A uniqueness only possible through the loving expression of God.

In going within, we do not turn to our own spirituality or our own goodness or our own strength or our own knowledge; but we go within to unleash the Infinite Invisible.  ~Joel S. Goldsmith, The Art of Meditation 

We are individuations of the One Universal Power & Presence and we each act in this Oneness to unleash that Infinite Invisible from within. We don't have to spend days in the desert or atop a mountain or live in a cave. Each is their own mystics able to live the mystical experience by letting God be God in them and as them.

You are Divine now...it is your birthright. Your uniqueness, talents, and dreams are all waiting for you to WAKE UP and accept your divinity! It is only our resistance to this Truth that gets in our way. When we resist, we strive against or oppose something, the polar opposite of working a resolution. Changing things in our life begins with not wanting to experience this or that anymore; to set up a barrier to reliving that idea. But that is where resistance should quickly end.

One of the most notorious creatures from the Star Trek universe is the Borg. In the 1990 third-season finale of The Next Generation series, the evil Borg sent an audio message to those whom their collective would absorb (imagine ominous robotic voice):  “We are the Borg. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile.”

“Wow,” you may think, “Rev. Jay is comparing our Oneness and connection to Spirit to the Borg?” In a way, yes. I don't claim we are all some sort of spiritual cyborgs roaming the earth. But take away your biology and technology and what is left? ...your etiology – your causation and origination ... your most basic self - your Godness!

We are in a collective of sorts, not evil like the Borg, but one that is available through the conscious activity of embodying Spirit; a complete emancipation from discord that no one can truly take away without our permission.

On July 9, 1868, the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. Garrett Epps, Professor of constitutional law at the University of Baltimore, wrote this about the 14th amendment:

Its centerpiece is the idea that citizenship in the United States is universal—that we are one nation, with one class of citizens, and that citizenship extends to everyone born here. Citizens have rights that neither the federal government nor any state can revoke at will; even undocumented immigrants—"persons", in the language of the amendment—have rights to due process and equal protection of the law.

Yet, the road to freedom does not truly lay in amendments to a constitution or any set of man-made laws again, not to lessen the efforts of Federick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Thaddeus Stephens, and other abolitionists or 13th/14th amendment proponents. However, freedom must be made first in the minds and hearts of those whose values and beliefs equaled that pronouncement. It may have started as a resistance to hate, inequality, and unjust actions and ideas, but accepting it first -remember this is not about permission- acceptance allows us to transform those ideas from the resistance of the negative into working for something that is positive and a part of Nature's Laws. Before emancipation could be a fact in the United States, the Truth of our equality and Oneness within the creations of the Universe had to be recognized and accepted to set man free. In other words, our minds had to echo through our communion with the eternal Thing Itself.

The sooner we awaken to Truth and live it holistically, and not just in our heads, the sooner we shall become factually free & happy, no matter the conditions we experience or the laws or amendments to any constitution. Viktor E. Frankl, Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor - founder of logotherapy, a search for a life meaning as the central human motivational force - wrote:

The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance. ...Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.  

Yes, we are obligated to enact laws to codify our understanding of Truth. God does not condone enslaving or mistreating anyone and we cannot be free in our spirit nor free in our mind when we withhold human liberty from another; neither can we be truly free when we kill, maim, cage, strike, spit upon, tear gas or shoot another. We can only be completely free when we respect and honor all of life. Those not participating in the Divine collective of Oneness, peace, and Universal love are bound to suffer the consequences of having a void in their heart filled with more hate, fear, shame helplessness, powerlessness, injustice, and inadequacy....all learned feelings one decides to embrace.

But when you fill that void, no matter the size, with Spirit, you gain a foundation to build upon. You step into a world where kinship with all life connects and prospers in you, guides you with spiritual wisdom...a world that will show up without police brutality, white privilege, or any cultural beliefs of superiority and its inherent arrogance and delusions

I am not telling you to bypass what may be lurking inside - confusing you, irritating you. The resolution, however, must begin with who you are. Looking for approval outside of yourself is futile - it will never fill any void. Remember you are worthy NOW and you're pre-approved for your highest good now, as well.

     Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.  ~Teilhard de Chardin

Are there areas of joy in your life that could support you in remembering that God is always everywhere equally present?

Find them...Nurture them. 

Incorporate them where the joy isn't as strong

It’s foolish and futile, to dedicate your time and attention to resisting what you don’t want. Reapply your energy toward what you do want and plan a prudent spiritual practice, then a wise practical course of action. When we choose to love the awakening to our highest self, we ease the effects of the negative and ease the inclusion of the positive, and we reveal the wisdom of the ages and disclose the best we have to offer to the world and beyond. Believing and loving who you are is a powerful antidote for lack and limitation, depression and distress, dis-harmony and dis-ease.

Allow the Divine's Love and Wisdom into your life

Resistance is futile!

Affirmative Incantation

Divine Love acts through me and the Law of Love frees me to be my best. Today I offer myself to loving this loved life. 

I am dedicated to being my best today, declaring superlative thoughts, revealing my highest ideas, best practices, the deepest empowering beliefs, and the most succulent experiences.

This day is my day and I express it with joy in my heart, a twinkle in my eye, and a spring in my step.

Watch out world, here I Am!

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LABOR NO MORE

My blog title today is LABOR NO MORE

It's not about pregnancy...

It's about stopping the laborious thoughts of doom and gloom
It's about the ease that faith brings to our psyche/life
It's about unplugging by plugging in
It's about entering the No Toil Zone

We celebrate Labor Day in September. Labor is the exertion of one's powers of body or mind in productive work, striving toward a goal. It may also be an act that is servile or toil for someone. Servile in keeping up with the Jones' or some sociological /familial imprint of how success looks. Do you think a hard life of mental/physical toil adds up to a prosperous life? If you do, then it does. But it doesn't have to be like that.

What do you do for the first hour of your day? email, social media, voicemail, texts? That's not labor, whether you think it is part of your job or not. I get it about emergencies or deadlines, but a large majority of the time, those activities are an act of toiling, being a servant to work. Your checking in with other people's problems or their agendas, needs, or priorities – not yours. Though they may coincide, we want to stop reacting and start acting. 

During that first hour, write out your agenda/needs/priorities for the day - four or five must do things to accomplish or the one thing that will make everything else in the day easier. Similarly with the last hour of your day, get off of the social media, emails, working, etc. whirling dervish. Not even getting into the blue light effects of our electronics, it makes for restless sleep. The brain stays active – synapses still fire - which makes it harder to disengage from the day and slide into much-required rest of mind as well as body.

Take a digital break one hour before sleep

That's part of the no toil zone. You see, where our focus goes so too does our feelings/thoughts/body chemistry. It shows up in our sleep or lack thereof. It's like when you are focused on the car you want, ones just like it start showing up everywhere. 

Where our focus and faith goes, so too goes our thoughts and feelings.

Where our thoughts and feelings go, so too go our beliefs.

Where our beliefs go, so too go that which we create or destroy in life.

It's time for next-level thinking, next level courage, and next-level action – a new perspective. Even in imperfect action, there's perfection in the imperfect action.

Man is the builder, and to him are given all the materials out of which to construct the temple in which he dwells. He builds in wisdom or in ignorance, according to his ... receptivity to the sphere of intelligence within him. ~Charles Fillmore, “Talks on Truth”

How you choose to use this intelligence, reveal it, tap into it, be receptive to it equals  a life full of toil and drudgery, where you sit it in a dark cave, like the witches in Macbeth, honoring the false gods of anxiety, fear, lack, and difficulty; brewing hate-filled, lack-filled energy, screaming:

Double, double toil and trouble;

   Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

But instead of...

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,

Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—

...we throw in:

toe of struggle, nose of pain, 

eye of bad news, 

heart of hopelessness, and wings of worry -

...starting, as Corrie Ten Boom calls it, “a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.” This is something William Inge tells us bears “interest paid on trouble before it comes due.

It is a "woe is me" life:

Woe is me – there's too much work

Woe is me – I don't have time

Woe is me – 'fill in the blank'

We all have been in a state of shock with COVID...then frustrated and angry...then sad or even depressed. I know it...I've felt it. The next level is the acceptance mode, accepting this is the way it is and may be for a while or possibly a long while. Yet remembering/reminding/insisting on the Truth that Divinity is constantly revealed and available to you and you are always at choice, especially on how you react to these fears, frustrations, etc. You may need to pivot and shift.

It is not my ability, but my response to God's ability that counts.  ~Corrie Ten Boom, part of a Christian Netherlands family who saved 800 Jewish lives during the Nazi occupation

Living a "wow is me" life is being passionately invested in the greatness and power available to you right now, no matter the circumstance. Seeing yourself as God sees you.

enter the no toil zone

Here's a great tool to keep you in the no toil zone:

Set four alarms everyday with messages similar to these:

1)  Wake up:  “Good morning, today's going to be great, no matter what. I know, I know...just a few more minutes. Don't snooze away your life; get up and read your affirmative incantation and prepare yourself to have a rockin' day!”

2)  11 am:  “What are you focusing on right now?”

3)  3 pm:  “Look around at all your blessings.”

4)  Last hour before sleep:  “Reflect on the good that happened today, no matter how small, read your affirmative incantation and have a beautiful, restful sleep. Pleasant dreams!”

These no toil zone tools are simple, easy, and...POWERFUL.

We may have to do some labor every day, but we never have to toil or be servile to our job, employer, customers, clients, etc. If it looks you are, even a little bit - STOP IT. Your mind will thank you, your body will thank you, your family will thank you, and because you will be more efficient in time, attitude, and body, your job people will thank you.

A.I.

Today I affirm that I live a life of ease and blessing, no matter the conditions in front of me. I remember at all times that all the power, expertise, and strength, anything that I am required to know, do or be, is already flowing within; waiting to be tapped, revealed, opened and surrendered to, inspired and empowered from, and gratefully used to fulfill my life's purpose. 

I see my declarations as already done in Mind and I am lovingly lead down the perfect path with the best action steps necessary to accomplish all my goals. 

From this moment, on, I step into my “wow is me” life; totally immersed in Spirit and harmoniously balancing the Being of my life with the doing in my life.

Ending The War

There is a Power for Good in the Universe and you get to use it.

     Who believes this? Say I.

There is One Mind, One Power, One Divine Intelligence; call it God, Spirit, Source, Presence, Phil. 

                                                                                             Who believes this? Say I.

Each of us is an individualization of an unlimited, unconditional loving Power – infused with and revealing as a part of that One Mind?
Who believes this? Say I.

Good.   That is the Truth.

The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you discover why.  ~Mark Twain

The Truth... is why you are here. Now, you might say, “Yeah, we get it…what’s new?”

Last week we declared our independence from all kinds of things that get in the way of our prosperity, health, peace of mind, creativity, fun. We signed our Declaration of Independence. This week:

I AM HERE TO DECLARE THAT THE WAR IS OVER.

I have let people and objects and activities come toward me and impinge upon me till I have been over-piled and mountain-covered with thoughts. But now I know that I AM at my own Center, authority over and through my universe …. [here] to spread my Original Nature abroad till, from me to the utmost stretches, all is [through] my Divine EGO.  ~Emma Curtis Hopkins, The Radiant I Am

It's time to end the fighting, the hardship, the hunger, the beatings, killings, disease, famine, theft and anger. I want everyone to put down your weapons of outrage, and your ammo of anger and hate. They have done you no good, have not advanced you one iota of peace or serenity; only an abundance of conflict, aggression, fear and pain.

Who understands what I am saying?  Say I.

So I repeat:  

I AM HERE TO DECLARE THAT THE WAR IS OVER.

That war I am referring to is the war between yourself and yourself and also that with everyone else.

If man takes his images of thought only from his previous experiences, then he continues in the bondage which those previous experiences create.  If we talk about discord, we shall become more discordant. The more the world arms for war, the more certain it is that there will be war.    ~Ernest Holmes “Science of Mind” 

What arms are you bearing? wars have you been fighting? Is it your family history? some future illness because of your DNA? the not good enough’s? Are you stuck in the must do’s or must be’s? is it something somebody said?

Or maybe it is about your judgments, biases, prejudices. Someone with tattoos or extreme left or right wingers, LGBTQ+ folk or phobias of origin, race, creed or spiritual philosophy?

Anybody recognizing any of this? Say I.

I know we like this stuff to stay hidden, but hidden, the war continues with guilt, shame, illness, anger, disharmony, dysfunction, disappointment, hate and especially the disintegration of spirit. And who really wants that?

We must stop warring with our upbringing, parents, the one who did us wrong, society, history, etc. This is your kick in the pants .... to take off the blinders.

I’m not saying this this world doesn’t have work to do for the climate, the disadvantaged or the mistreated, but when we focus on the wrong or wronging of it, we invite more of it. And I'm not saying to stop protesting, changing laws and changing minds either. I am saying our minds must change, so the anger must end.

I mean no disrespect or judgment to people and organizations fighting for justice, equality and rights, however I say it’s time to take the next step. With so much hate and anger, even on the good side people, we have incarcerated our Love of peace and justice and equality and rights. To shift the paradigms and beliefs of the ignorant and misinformed, we must shift ours first. To shift other’s consciousness, we must shift ours first. We cannot impact individuals who are currently incarcerated by their ignorance and prejudice until we know ours and rid ourselves of them.

How do we bring this to those who experience PTSD and feel trapped by their trauma?  ...by releasing our traps and traumas.

How do we turn hate and anger into love, calm, peace? ...by turning ours.

What happens to one part of God in some way happens to all of Its parts - all of us.

All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force... We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.  ~Max Planck, Physicist, founder of the quantum theory – 1940’s

This force is Love. It is an energy that is palpable and has proven efficacious.

Stop the War and Come Home

If one guy with a bullet could change the world in the school depository in Dallas or a hotel in Los Angeles or Memphis;  how much more could one person with an idea, the right idea change the world. Today, this day, the world will change forever, not because of the clash of armies, not in the currency of bomb blasts or body counts, but through the proper application of the only force that matters, the only power that even God respects - the Truth.  ~J. Michael Stracynski, “Jeremiah” 

Love is that Truth. When we be at what we love, not what we hate, it’s a powerful mindset of progression vs. digression. 

When the law of circulation is retarded, stagnation results. ~Ernest Holmes

The Law of circulation mandates that we get what we give, so let’s give love, not hate; and peace instead of anger.

SEEK WAYS TO CIRCULATE YOUR LIGHT.  

Maya Angelou suffered a life of torment and darkness, enduring intense physical and emotional abuse by a family member that nearly stole her voice forever, becoming mute for nearly five years. But with the help of a family friend, Angelou found her own voice again. Introduced to Dickens, Shakespeare, Poe and others they influenced her personal and professional philosophies, propelling her to become a conduit of love – because one person raised her up. 

SEE BEYOND CONDITIONS AND APPEARANCES

Gregory Boyle is a Jesuit who has worked to counter gang activity for more than 30 years. His Homeboy Industries, has directed hundreds away from gangs and into productive lives by providing employment, tattoo removal, counseling and love to at-risk youth in L. A.  Often, individuals bearing full-facial tattoos come to him, and while it would be easy for Father Boyle to assess them based upon appearances, he sees only God and works to successfully restore their dignity, inspiring many to do the same for their peers. 

And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.  ~Qur’an 5:32

Too many people are consumed by suffering. In prisons and detention centers; as soldiers and single moms, black, brown, sad, angry or overwhelmed, we can only truly enjoy our freedom by spreading it around.

There is no freedom in anger, only bondage. Focusing on love, is what is needed. Volunteer. Teach. Lead by example, smile at strangers, hold a door open, deliver food, carry a sign, put a sign in the window, and write a law, but speak your loving word and insist on equality, education, justice. Not because you hate what’s going on, but because you love what’s right, what’s just and what’s equal.

Thou shalt Love thy neighbor as thyself.  ~Leviticus 19:18

Our first step will be the ho’oponopono.

I’m sorry

 please forgive me

Thank you

I love you

Forgiveness to self and others is the first and most powerful step in ending the war. It's also important to remember that ending the war is not about fault - it's about movement. It is not about who’s right or wrong - it’s about loving what is True and living that Truth.

If you knew the secret of Life you too would choose no other companion, but Love.  ~Rumi

Let's say the ho'oponono again:

This powerful Hawaiian healing practice is one of reconciliation and forgiveness for both ourselves and the world around us. To harbor resentment against others pretty much only hurts the person who refuses to forgive. By using this practice, you are purifying one's soul by releasing bad memories or feelings, it frees the mind from the negative whirlwind trap of hate, anger, resentment, disappointment...even fear. Being pono = being in perfect balance with all of life.

Let us be the way-showers and sign a peace treaty between ourselves and ourselves and all the rest of those around us. Here's the prayer again:

Congratulations….it is Victory Day. Witness the rebuilding of the society we prayed for and see us all thriving in peace, blessed in Love....now and forever!

Affirmation

My connection and communion with Spirit is powerfully inspiring, loving and liberating. 
I am joyously receptive to the next step on my spiritual pathway. 
Right now, today and forevermore, I activate, actuate, consecrate, celebrate, demonstrate, elevate, instigate, percolate, radiate, saturate and continually validate my life by using this connection to bust through, soar and zoom into my greatest adventures.