Letting Go of Yesterday

Every night I lie in bed

The brightest colours fill my head

A million dreams are keeping me awake

I think of what the world could be

A vision of the one I see

A million dreams is all it's gonna take

A million dreams for the world we're gonna make

      ~Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, "A Million Dreams" from The Greatest Showman 

I wanted to remind you of a few things about your yesterdays. This isn't to get you off the hook of the work of acknowledging, releasing, and letting go of the old stories that are cluttering your consciousness and getting in the way of manifesting your dreams. Our past experiences, stories, yesterdays can have a significant impact on our beliefs, and many times we don't even realize it's happening. Sometimes we have to dive deep to even realize they are there just so we can acknowledge them, even before we face them, forgive them, neutralize them, release them, and replace them.

I've talked about radical self-forgiveness that has nothing to do with the other party. And even if it does have something to do with another person - as Oscar Wilde said:

Always forgive your enemies—nothing annoys them so much.

I've given you the tool called PLACE (see "What's Your Response?"):  Pause, Label, Ask, Choose, Express. So you respond vs. react to situations because reactions come from yesterday's stories.

There's the 4-step shame and regret process I shared (see "What Are You Looking At?")to get squeaky clean with our ethics and integrity and neutralize the power yesterday's story has a hold on us.

Or you could follow Tony Robbins' (and others) advice to:

1. Turn "letting go" of the past into a “must”

Gaining a clear sense of purpose to move beyond the hold of yesterday and serve as your emotional drive when you feel like raging, hiding, etc. 

2. Identify your emotional habits

Emotions are like a muscle. The trauma or challenging incident can train us to feel frustrated, sad, stressed, untrusting. However, you can train yourself to stay passionate, joyful, and strong, even when something bad happens in your life or reminds you of your yesterdays. When you catch yourself falling into a negative emotional habit, try to cut off the thought and switch gears immediately. This new conditioning will re-wire those emotions to have less or no effect as a trigger.

3. Condition your mind and work on personal growth

Feed your mind and soul with empowering stories instead of limiting ones.  Surround yourself with people who make you better and put yourself in a peak state of mind and action. Focus on learning and improving your mind and heart, and thus your self-respect and perception.

4. Create empowering rituals

Build momentum by practicing gratitude, meditation, affirmative prayer, journaling, etc. All the spiritual practices we talk about and work.

5. Focus on what you can control

You can’t take back an unhealthy relationship, but you can learn from it. You can’t go back in time and fix a bad childhood, but you can realize that “Your past does not equal your future.” From the minute you wake up, you make choices. In fact, that could be your greatest birthrights - volition and choice. Learning how to let go of the past means breaking the pattern and focusing on creating the life you deserve, not dwelling on the one you used to have.

7. Give back

No matter how broke you may be or how broken you feel, you have something to offer others – even if it’s something as common as a smile or a listening ear. Realize that the secret to living is giving.

Not a Tony Robbins or NLP fan? Alice Morse Earle put it very plainly in the early 1900s:

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present. 

Here is the most important thing happening in the present that I want you to grasp onto, awaken to and allow Its transformative abilities to take hold:

If God is all there is, then EVERYTHING in our life is God speaking.

Doubt, pain, resistance, and misery are a calling for reconnecting our humanness with our spiritual essence.  It holds no judgment or opinion of the experience! When you begin to see yesterdays that pop up in our 'todays' as a blessing, you tap into an opportunity to remember the fundamental truth that God is all-in in your life and ready to wave the flag and hold your hand, if need be, and point us to the Truth to:

REALIZE  ACCEPT  KNOW

• Realize your feelings are valid
• Accept that God has given you all that is needed to step through yesterday's junk
• Know you have the power of choosing and then choosing again and again and again

I would like to conclude with a poem I heard about and found on this subject.

She Let Go

by Safire Rose

She let go.

She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear.

She let go of the judgments.

She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.

She let go of the committee of indecision within her.

She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.

Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice.

She didn’t read a book on how to let go.

She didn’t search the scriptures.

She just let go.

She let go of all of the memories that held her back.

She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.

She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.

She didn’t promise to let go.

She didn’t journal about it.

She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.

She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.

She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.

She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.

She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.

She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.

She didn’t call the prayer line.

She didn’t utter one word.

She just let go.

No one was around when it happened.

There was no applause or congratulations.

No one thanked her or praised her.

No one noticed a thing.

Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort.

There was no struggle.

It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.

It was what it was, and it is just that.

In the space of letting go, she let it all be.

A small smile came over her face.

A light breeze blew through her.

And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…

You will probably face setbacks and challenges, I have. But with conviction and a purpose that drives you, you will stay focused and dedicated when those yesterdays show up. Then you can acknowledge, release, and let go. Don’t beat yourself up for what has happened in the past - all god's children's got stuff. Beyond your own self-work, please seek out spiritual counseling - I do, cognitive therapy - I have, and know that you can and will let go of your yesterdays and manifest your million dreams.

I know you can!

p.s. I am available for spiritual counseling. Contact my office at ntsc@newthoughtsc.org

Peace and blessings to you!

Affirmative Incantation

I welcome my new stories. 

My todays are filled with wonderment, excitement, imagination, and the best of infinite possibilities. I am moving forward with everything in my life. I am energized, authorized, crystallized, concretized, exercised, harmonized, and recognized as the Divine Light that I Am born to be.

I now forgive, release, and neutralize the blocks, triggers, and walls of indecision, victimhood, and strife. And I welcome the new stories of strength, wisdom, plenty, and love. I am rockin' it from this day forward.

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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UNITY IN ONE

I Realize its all inside of me
I Realize there are no walls
In between you and me and this holy word
no walls between you and me and this holy word   ~Laura Berman

The holy word you'd think we are discussing is love, indeed a holy word. Today, however, it is One.

One mind,One source, One-ness

I realize we are united in the One energy

Ancient Mayans have a greeting:  In Lak’ech Ala K’in. 

It means "I am another yourself" or "I am you and you are me." It is a statement of unity - oneness, like Namaste, Wiracocha (Incan) and Mitakuye Oyasin (Lakota). In an LSD inspired moment of clarity and creativity, John Lennon wrote for I AM THE WALRUS on the Sgt. Pepper soundtrack:  

I am he, as you are he, as you are me, and we are all together.

In these greetings we acknowledge & honor that we are all divine beings. Even the a-holes in the world. Our diversity is wide and all are included and connected to the One Source. "Really, even the buttheads?" Yep....look, the planets don't look the same or have the same air. Many are inhabitable, and you wouldn't want to visit, but they are all part of our Milky Way, our Universe, and created by the One Source, the singular energy.

In a social media post, I asked you all to join me with your waffles on the morning I created this post. That day happened to be International Beer Day. So I invite you to have a beer, too...with your waffles. Huh? Beer is one of the oldest drinks in the world and the third most popular overall, after water and tea. It has been mentioned is such ancient texts as The Code of Hammurabi, which included laws regulating beer and beer joints of the time. In The Hymn to Ninkasi, a prayer to the Mesopotamian goddess of beer, the song was used as a method of remembering the recipe for beer. All of these from one of the earliest know societies in our history. You probably know that beer is brewed from cereal grains and many recipes contain fruit. That is why it is a possible good breakfast item. The main reason I bring this up is, like us all of us, beer comes in many unique tastes, blends, colors, formulas, countries, cultures and styles, but they are all still beer.

I realize we are United in the One energy

Inclusion and Diversity is what God is about in its unconditional love. Though people can be pretty ugly in their individualized expressions of It, there's a beauty, even in that. And some go about it in strange and sometimes dangerous ways, but again we don't have to like all the likenesses of Spirit, just love the infinite possibilities of them.

I realize we are United in the One energy

This idea of the Oneness of God is not a philosophy of absorption … we do not become absorbed in the universal Self to the loss of individuality. Quite the opposite. We find ourselves …. immersed in a universality, each one being a unique, individual and different manifestation of that which itself is one, undivided, indivisible and whole. We cannot think of the Spirit as static, but as forever unfolding Its divine nature. … Unity does not mean uniformity.    ~Ernest Holmes 

Oneness does not equal sameness. We are uniquely the same as we are similarly different. We are all vibrant beings living in a vibrant Universe, able to vibrate at the speed of the divine. The Mayans call it huinik’lil ... vibrant beings. It is vibrant beings like like John Lewis who are wayshowers, reminding us of focusing on love, not hate.

All humans are descended from Adam and Eve. There is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, or of a non-Arab over an Arab, and no superiority of a white person over a black person or of a black person over a white person, except on the basis of personal piety and righteousness. ~Prophet Muhammad, last speech at Mecca

Character makes the person and it is man, not mankind, that has lowered their character to cast others as less than. Those folks can be loved out of our lives and voted out of our lives.

This month we are concentrating on consecrating ... declaring and making our lives sacred. That doesn't we leave out the fun, the succulent, the sexy or the relaxed in our experiences. Having grace in life includes health, wealth, love and creativity. Consecration is about living in Truth and seeing that Truth in every individualized expression of the One Mind, even the a-holes. We must begin to realize that we must be inclusive in our diversity. Even as we may bless them to their best (the a-holes), we can bless them to their farthest – out of our lives.

Last month, I shared my New Thought Declaration of Independence (click on the picture for the text). 

August 2nd is the anniversary of the completion of the signing of the Jefferson document in 1776. Benjamin Rush, a signer, wrote about the mood in the room that day being far from celebratory, “It was awful and silent as each member was called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress, where they signed what was believed ... at that time to be our own death warrants."  Everyone was aware of what they were undertaking - an act of high treason against the British Crown that could cost each man his life. John Hancock supposedly said that Congress, having signed the Declaration, must now "all hang together", and Benjamin Franklin replied: "Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

They were a great example of Unity in One. The one mind of the colonists to declare independence from the crown. And for us, declaring our independence from hate, even of the a-holes. We are all united in the One Mind, the Big Bang, the Universal Presence, the Elohim, the Christ Consciousness, the Divine Intelligence ….God

I realize we are united in the one energy 

Conclusion and Call to Action

• Set our intention to be inclusive, no matter the idiot we are faced with
• Focus on loving even when not liking
• Remember that whoever is speaking is a Divine expression speaking – loving and wise or dumb and dangerous as it may be
• Listen actively and consciously communicate
• Be comfortable with the uncomfortable to speak up, protest, vote
• Know that what each of us resonates, reveals itself back to us – individually and as a culture
• Choose not to hate the haters hating
• Be guided by that loving intelligence to imagine the peace and the calm, so you and us all can live it

The forces of nature are at our grasp in

the power in the in lak'ech al k'in. Here

is a poem by Luis Valdez, a writer, director,

and the father of Chicano theater, called:

IN LAK’ECH 

Tú eres mi otro yo.

     You are my other me.

Si te hago daño a ti,

     If I do harm to you,

Me hago daño a mi mismo.

     I do harm to myself.

Si te amo y respeto,

     If I love and respect you,

Me amo y respeto yo.

     I love and respect myself.

Whether with the greeting Namaste, Wiracocha, In Lak’ech Ala K’in, Aloha (Divine Presence), Shalom, Tashi Delay (Tibetan-I honor the greatness in you) ... you are actively acknowledging the Divine in all of us. Let us not hate the haters … let us love them, and if we must. love them far, far away.

Affirmative Incantation

I am one with Divine Intelligence: empowered by It, loved as It, enlightened through It, experiencing life for It and sitting in joy with It.

I claim harmony, acceptance, and compassion through the Divine diversity in all forms of Its image and likeness. Every male, female, non-binary, mineral, animal, plant and organism represents a life lived as Spirit. This inclusivity is a sacred oath throughout this Universe that all are created equal in the One Mind.   

I am equally able to cross any bridge, bringing me to a higher level of fulfillment. I am equally powerful to manifest my best life. I am equally consecrated to heal any and all that requires freshness and renewal. I am equally fit to love and forgive, freeing my life from hate and fear. I am equally empowered to bring abundance, creativity, kindness and respect around me.

Inclusive, diverse, powerful and successful am I; now and forevermore!

TRULY INDEPEPENDENT

In 1963, at the March on Washington, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ended his speech saying:

When we allow freedom to ring - when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, Free at last, Great God a-mighty, "We are free at last."

He was stating a powerful call to action to the people of the U.S. and much of the world about equality and justice for the African American. Not to diminish that call to action, it is required per the situation at hand for minorities of all types in this nation and the world. However, none of us can be truly free until we claim our freedom for ourselves. Be you black, white, Christian, Jew, yellow, brown, any gender or who you love. Laws can be legislated, reparations paid, equality and justice completed, but only when we claim our freedom in our own minds, will we ever completely enjoy that freedom.

No matter your color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, religion or nationality, we must already have the impetus for freedom to ring from within first. Inviting it with legislation and education is not enough. Freedom for all must ring true in our own hearts and we must get clear on what that ring of freedom means to us personally.

So I ask you:
                       
What does it mean to know the Truth? to live this teaching as definitive, yet expansive?

That's Freedom!

What does it mean to know and reveal the Divine power within; an invisible presence and force as prevalent as gravity?

That's Freedom!

What does it mean to be free in your life? what does it feel like, look like, taste like being free?

What is living like knowing God is not simply “in" you, but experiences life as you, with you, for you, through you....is You?

That's Freedom!

The rest, as they say, again, not to diminish what needs to be accomplished in our society, but the rest is commentary. Freedom must be spoken about and acted upon, because though it is inherent, spiritually, it remains inactive unless fully accepted and declared by each and every one of else internally, in our hearts, minds and guts.

The essence of this teaching, New Thought and ancient wisdom (at least when read as intended) is love, responsibility and action; using our ability to respond, in mind with love, and in body with action to any and all situations and conditions with the Divine Truth at the forefront of our response.

We are all one, all part of the same God-stuff. Anyone not remembering that, doesn't know the Truth or maybe, “can't handle the Truth.” There is no them in us. We are all expressions of the same Power, the same creative energy.

In our three billion letters of individual DNA code and in our 20,000 genes, each of us are 99.9% the same as any other person on the planet. A mere 3 million letters are different...out of 20 billion. And 98.5% of our DNA are the same as chimpanzees and bonono's (another of the monkey-kind). And to those who get cocky about their humanity versus other life forms, know that 50% of our DNA is the same as a banana.

99.9% percent the same. Yet not all are free. Too much of that because of socio-politico-religio b.s. and much too much because not all of us have claimed that freedom for ourselves, in our hearts and minds and guts.

• Freedom is our birthright, yes, yet there must be a call to action internally for it to ring. 
• Freedom implies action and freedom requires action, whether to obtain it in legalities or to retain it socially.
• Freedom is not static, it has movement, responsibility, and belief attached to it. 
• Freedom cannot be legally and ethically bestowed by government or education alone; it must be achieved and declared and shared from within by all of us individually.

We’re all connected. Yet as the nation and the global community catches up with laws, education and ethics of justice, we must take the freedom journey in our own consciousness first. We must accept the freedom in our unique personal spiritual experience first. We must liberate ourselves with personal responsibility and action, without assigning blame and with the understanding that our divinity gives us the ability to know and live our highest good while recognizing the Namaste in all. Those who honor and recognize this freedom is for all are a force for good in the world.

To have freedom in our world prosper in all of life, we must have the mental equivalent of that prosperity in Mind. We can only attract what we mentally become and know to be like the photograph which can only show what the film was exposed to.

The road to freedom lies not through mysteries or occult performances, but through the intelligent use of natural forces and laws. ~Ernest Holmes "Living Without Fear"

Therefore, to let “freedom ring” in our lives, we must understand that our divinity and connection to God is shared by everyone in the world. Freedom, success and prosperity are spiritual attributes that belong to all peoples. So what are we to do?

Thurgood Marshall's speech from almost thirty years ago continues to resonate, when he says:

Democracy just cannot flourish amid fear. Liberty cannot bloom amid hate. Justice cannot take root amid rage. America must get to work.

As Americans and citizens of the world, we must get to work from without and within. As John F. Kennedy reminds us:

The great revolution in the history of man, past, present and future, is the revolution of those determined to be free.

Let us start a revolution in Mind, declaring our freedom in Mind first. As stated by Athenian historian and general (400 BC) Thucydides:

The secret to happiness is freedom… And the secret to freedom is courage.

So let us be courageous and proclaim to the Universe our...

Declaration of Independence:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one person to dissolve the bands and bonds of struggle, strife, lack, and faithlessness, which has connected them with a life that does not serve their greatest good, and to assume among the Power of the Universe, the station of Prosperity to which the Laws of Nature entitle them, a decent respect to the opinion of one who speaks in Truth requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

I hold this Truth to be self-evident, that I am created equal, that I am endowed by my Creator, that which is within me, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and Happiness. That to secure these rights in my life, beliefs are instituted by me, deriving their just powers from Divine consent of my Mind and the Law of Cause and Effect. That whenever any Form of My Beliefs become destructive of these ends, it is the Right of Me to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new thoughts, new feelings, new perspectives, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing Its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect my Safety, Prosperity, Health and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Beliefs, long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience has shown, that many times I am more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right myself by abolishing the beliefs to which I am accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce Me under absolute or partial lack, it is my right, it is my duty, to throw off such Beliefs, and to provide new thoughts and feelings, new perspectives and beliefs, for my future security, prosperity, health and happiness.

Such has been my patient sufferance; and such is now the necessity which constrains me to alter my thinking and my Beliefs.

Part of the history of my present beliefs is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over my happiness.

And so I now declare, with full knowledge and embodying of the One Power within, that One indestructible, absolute and self-existent Cause. With that Spirit expressing through me, which is the Unity of all life, I claim and swear to use my creative thoughts to think from that eternal goodness, that eternal loving kindness, and that eternal givingness of Divine Intelligence. To act, be, and surround myself with love, abundance, vitality and vibrancy. To think, reason, and live without the bondage of any negativity from my past, without the consciousness of “no” or the shoulda/woulda/coulda of “not yet;” without fear of a future I will create, and without any water cooler gossip or the news and opinions of CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, NPR or any government or religion that may be running around in my mind like a rat in a cage, like squirrels in a whirling dervish, like chattering monkeys – invading my consciousness.

I, therefore, do, in the Name, and by Authority of my birthright as an individualization of the Source and Substance of All, solemnly publish and declare, that I Am that I AM, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent of destructive thoughts and beliefs; and that I Am that I AM, is absolved from all allegiance to negativity, and that all connection between me and the State of Lack and Limitation, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as a Free and Independent personalization of God, I engage my full Power to levy Peace, Prosperity, and Love in my life from this day, forward. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection and Power of the Divine Intelligence within, I pledge to my Life and sacred Honor.

Please sign your name in the air, declaring your independence and committing your freedom to be the greatest You that ever was....and, so too, for all!





Affirmation
I Am free to see my peace. I Am free to see my abundance.
I Am free to see the miracle that is Me, with a body that is energized and ready to rock.
I Am free to see life go my way - the way of love, Light, wisdom, beauty and grace.
I declare my freedom to Be the greatest I can be.

Driving With Your Headlights Always On

Congrats...you made it through one of the two Friday the 13th's in 2019.

The term for the fear of Friday the 13th is Paraskevidekatriaphobia. Interestingly, this fear has no reference to itself or Friday the 13th being unlucky before the 19th century. There isn't a lot of information of where this fear started or became popular. It's possible it started with a fear of the number 13 first. That is called Triskaideka-phobia. It's origons have to do with the idea that Judas Iscariot sat in 13th place at the Last Supper, which occured on the 13th day of Nissan on Maundy Thurs, the night before Jesus' death...Good Friday. That ties it in with the Friday phobia, I guess.

Other occurrences adding to these phobias:

• 1888 - Jack the Ripper's final victim and disappearance
• 1914 - Rasputin became Russia's ruler-in-fact
• 1942 - Hitler began major attacks on Soviet Union, Poland, Netherlands, Austria, Greece and Yugoslavia
• 1956 - Bela Lugosi died and buried in Dracula cloak
• 1970 - Beatles disbanded (probably the most horrible of them all)

It is mostly an American and British phobia. The Italians are far more concerned about Friday the 17th, the Spanish-speaking countries fear Tuesdays more, as well as the Greeks (influenced by Ares, the God of War). Dutch researchers found F13 a day one would be less likely to be injured, supposedly because people are more careful.

Mark Twain was once invited to be 13th guest at a dinner party. Several of his superstitious friends warned him not to do it, to decline the invitation, but he went anyway, not believing in such things. Twain later commented, "It was bad luck. They only had food for 12."

In 1882, a Capt. William Fowler founded The Thirteen Club of New York, a place where skeptics defied superstitions by hosting dinner parties on Friday the 13th. It usually comprised of 13 members performing a series of "unlucky feats." such as passing under a ladder, having a 13 course meal, lighting the evening with 13 candles, and tipping over salt shakers and not tossing any over shoulders. It later evolved into a national organization with such luminaries as Presidents Grover Cleveland and Teddy Roosevelt.

The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute estimates that more than 17M people are affected by this fear of the number 13 and especially the Friday the 13ths. But it's all a learned fear, like most not based on reality. Now I am not talking about a logical fear, such walking down a dark urban alley or putting our hand in a fire. Those actually aren't fears as much as logically learned things you just don't do. 

False Evidence Appearing Real

The above is the usual anagram for the term, fear. And keeping with our theme this month, fear is something that bends reality. But all those fears are not true, they are merely a story choice we accept. Fear is a closed energy that exists when we do not trust our connection to the infinite part of who we are and buy into some story about what usually will not unfold.

Fear is the opposite of faith.  ~Bishop Carlton Pearson

I believe it is time to detach from fear. To leave behind that something from the past that we allow in the present and prepare with for the future. All that is required is a simple shift in perspective, a surrender to the Universe - to who you are.

I ask you to turn on your brights and illuminate it all....be a witness in present time to what it is, what this kooky idea is that is getting in your way. Here's a couple of ways to do that:

1) Become an observer of your thoughts, ask questions about them, and write it down. Write down all the reasons your fear is irrational and kooky. It is in this practice that you start to re-organize and re-frame that story that has been whirling in your head about the fear or phobia.

2) Get your hand on your heart, breath, and perform this mindful Buddhist practice. Imagine a stone being thrown into a pond. Observe in your mind the ripples it creates. Allow this vision  to distract your mind's eye. This process opens you up to get centered and grounded so that you can then unfold, without doubt or self-sabotage, the story; attack it with heart and logic and rid yourself of the fear. I do it all the time. My brain comes up with some crazy ideas about things sometimes through some dumb fear and, when that occurs, I use one or both of these techniques to sift through the fear, laugh at it, give it a big "so what" that it showed up, challenge it and remove its power. Only your conscious mind can interfere and dismantle these fears. Use affirmations, tell the fear to take a hike, and open up to allow the Universe to inform you of the new story, the True story.

The secret of prayer and its power in the outward life depends upon an unconditional faith in, and reliance upon this inner Presence. ~ Ernest Holmes

BE YOUR SPIRITUAL VISION
Is achieving your goals the only thing that gives life meaning? That's a big NO! Your state of mind and state of being awakens you to a life of purpose. A purpose of revealing the Divinity in you and vibrating at the speed of Divine Intelligence.

RE-DISCOVER YOUR INNER TRUTH
Is your default mood one of irritation or dissatisfaction? When you reboot your perceptions by bringing peaceful attention to your authentic self, a calm starts to guide you away from unhappiness and self-obsession in connecting with your purpose through love and joy.

AWAKEN TO THE UNIVERSAL INTELLIGENCE AROUND AND WITHIN YOU
You trust your strategies and the clever hacks you've learned to find solutions to your problems, yes? Consider tapping into the miraculous power of universal intelligence with meditation, contemplation, visioning, visualizing, using deep and thoughtful heart-felt affirmations and affirmative prayer. 

PRACTICE SPIRITUAL RIGHT ACTION
Know spiritual right action is always there. The Universe is here to serve you through the spiritual Law of Cause and Effect. Remembering this and embodying this into the very cells of your being will give you the courage and clarity to find your way out of any of life’s conflicts.

Trust is what we learn when we want to overcome our fears. It’s called “taking a leap of faith” and trusting in the Power within that’s connected to Universal Intelligence. Remember, the Power that supplies our breath is the same Power that created the Universe.    ~Louise Hay

The opposite of fear is love. Affirm the power of your thought to overcome any fear. We have to drive this life with our headlights always on; making ourselves visible means we're less likely to have another dumb idea of a limiting or lack nature or a fear to drift into our lane. Have our headlights always on reduces and eventually eliminates the  risk of daytime rear-enders of these limiting idea.

Fortunately, Friday the 13th is days past. This Wednesday, September 18th is National Rice Krispies Treats Day...make some, enjoy some. And this Thursday, September 19th is Talk Like A Pirate Day...one of my favorites.

I will leave you with this affirmation/affirmative prayer:

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want, I Am that I AM, the Kingdom of Heaven is within, between God and me, there is no between...these words, biblical and philosophical are the Truth I live by.

I am reminded of my gift of the wisdom of Divine Intelligence that flows within me and the sacrament of volition, the ability of choice. So I now choose to look beyond appearances to see the wholeness of every being in every situation, and from there act with love, compassion, respect, and wisdom. False evidence appearing real is null and void in my life. I live my life only through, with, for and as my individualized expression of the One Spirit, God, the energy of the Big Bang, the Living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute and self-existent Cause. And I do so intentionally, joyfully, consciously and with the full embodiment of a life of vitality, prosperity, love, peace and creativity. 

I remember my faith and love surrounds me. The Divine Presence is here and my headlights are always on to see, know and reveal the Divinity within me. With deep gratitude, knowing the Universe says yes to my Word, I release this revelation....and so it is!

Affirmation
The Lights Are On And I AM Home
I see my greatness, it shines in the Light. I listen for my greatness, I hear It's Call. I feel my greatness, a texture just right. I smell this greatness, a rose of perfection. I taste my greatness, a perfect blended bite. I sing the Light in all I do and power this luminescence into all my words,  thoughts, and feelings.                                                                                                                     
I Am Home...Home In The Light!

Are You Free Yet?

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought, which they seldom use.     ~ Soren Kierkegaard

We have love affairs...some are romantic - others are with our home, a job, a hobby, etc. But we sometimes have others with things like despair, loneliness, dis-eases of various types of the mind, body or spirit. They are habits...some learned, acquired, accepted, and, too many, destructively held onto. Sometimes we don't realize they are there. We get used to them or have lost the ability to spot them. I've had relationships like that, jobs like that, eating habits like that, and even apartments like that. I have found the causes end up to be some combination of a lazy spiritual practice or a fear of success, being shackled by shame, boxed in by blame, gated in guilt, rotting in resentment or some kind of apathy because its “too late” or "I'm not smart enough" or something else enough or too much. Sound familiar?

If we take heed to Thomas Troward's decree that we are here to be happy, it's also irresponsible. But it's your right...you were born free to choose.

Being a citizen of the U.S., we are given many freedoms. Freedom of speech, unrestricted movement, religious beliefs, and others. Being an individualization of that Creative Power of the Universe, it is our birthright to have the exact experiences we desire. But, too many times, we waste the infinite possibilities the Universe has given us with these habits of hassles & unhappiness. But it's your right …. have at it!

I don't think that's what any of us really want, these hassles and unhappiness. Yes? 

I think we desire to move past the negative past. Yes? 

I think it is time to divorce, dissolve, resign from, split away, terminate, separate, vacate, abdicate, and just darn quit having hassles in our lives. Can I hear an “aye” to that?

Hell, let's Amen to that!

The freedom we seek is to use our own mind and body, to live our own life, instead of the life of the belief system. When we discover that the mind is controlled by the Judge and the Victim and the real "us" is in the corner, we have just two choices. One choice is to keep living the way we are, to surrender to the Judge and the Victim.

The second choice is to do what we do as children when parents try to domesticate us. We can rebel and say "No!" We can declare a war against the parasite, a war against the Judge and the Victim, a war for our independence, a war for the right to use our own mind and or own brain.   Don Miguel Ruiz, THE FOUR AGREEMENTS

Nobody likes to hear that the junk occurring in their lives is brought on by the same Power that brought the wonderfulness in their lives: their thoughts and feelings ... their beliefs. But it's true. The great thing about that is that we get to choose what we want in out experience ... Prizes or Plunders? 

I'll give you a moment to decide.

There is one mind common to all individual(s)... Every(one)... is an inlet to the same and to all of the same ...once admitted to the right of reason...(you) are made a freeman of the whole estate. What Plato has thought, he may think; what a saint has felt, he may feel; what at any time has be-fallen any (person), (they) can understand. Who hath access to this universal mind (each and every one of us) is a party to all that is or can be done, for this is the only and sovereign agent.                                                     Ralph Waldo Emerson, from his essay, HISTORY

That's you. The only and sovereign agent of your life. Each and every one of us...you, you, you, me...
are responsible to declare our independence from lack, strife, any ideas that do not fulfill our mission to vibrate at the speed of the Divine. And with this independence, we shall infuse energy, vibrancy, love, and peace into ourselves, our Center, our city, our state, country, and the world.

In TOMMY, Peter Townsend wrote:

I'M FREE- I'm free,
And freedom tastes of reality,
I'm free-I'm free,
And I'm waiting for you to follow me.

That is what we are going to do today, declare our freedom to ring in Truth. Declare our freedom to be in joy. Decree that we have the freedom to expect goodness, prosperity, vitality and vibrancy, love and respect, creativity and happiness.

And so here now is our New Thought Declaration of Independence:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one person to dissolve the bands and bonds of struggle, strife, lack, and faithlessness, which has connected them with a life that does not serve their greatest good, and to assume among the Power of the Universe, the separate station of Prosperity to which the Laws of Nature entitle them, a decent respect to the opinion of one who speaks in Truth requires that 

they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

I hold this Truth to be self-evident, that I am created equal, that I am endowed by my Creator, that which is within me, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and Happiness. That to secure these rights in my life, beliefs are instituted by me, deriving their just powers from the consent of my Mind and the Law of Cause and Effect. That whenever any Form of My Beliefs become destructive of these ends, it is the Right of Me to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new thoughts, new feelings, new perspectives, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing Its powers in such form, 

as to them shall seem most likely to effect my Safety and Happiness. 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Beliefs, long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience has shown, that many times I am more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right myself by abolishing the beliefs to which I am accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce Me under absolute or partial lack, it is my right, it is my duty, to throw off such Beliefs, and to provide new thoughts and feelings, new perspectives and beliefs, for my future security and happiness. 

Such has been my patient sufferance; and such is now the necessity which constrains me to alter my thinking and my Beliefs. 

Part of the history of my present beliefs is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over my happiness. 

And so I now declare, with full knowledge and embodying of the One Power within, that One indestructible, absolute and self-existent Cause. With that Spirit expressing through me, which is the Unity of all life, I claim and swear to use my creative thoughts to think from that eternal goodness, that eternal loving kindness, and that eternal givingness of Divine Intelligence. To act, be, and surround myself with love, abundance, vitality and vibrancy. To think, reason, and live without the bondage of any negativity from my past, without the consciousness of “no” or the shoulda/woulda/coulda of “not yet”, without the fear of a future I get to create, without water cooler gossip or the news and opinions of CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, NPR, or any government or religion that may be running around in my mind like a rat in a cage, like squirrels in a whirling dervish, like chattering monkeys – 

invading my consciousness. 

I, therefore, do, in the Name, and by Authority of my birthright as an individualization of the Source and Substance of All, solemnly publish and declare, that I Am that I AM, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent of destructive thoughts and beliefs; and that I Am that I AM, is absolved from all allegiance to negativity, and that all connection between me and the State of Lack and Limitation, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as a Free and Independent personalization of God, I engage my full Power to levy Peace, Prosperity, and Love in my life from this day, forward. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection and Power of the Divine Intelligence within, I pledge to my Life and sacred Honor. 

Let us sign our signatures in the air; thus committing to this Declaration of Freedom, for yourself and the betterment of our world. And as you do, say these words: "I declare my independence from that which no longer serves my greatest good."

GOD BLESS YOU AND 

GOD BLESS YOUR FREEDOM! 

Affirmation Today I choose abundant life. I choose the freedom to express my perfection. Today I choose to feel life, embracing it fully!

Today I choose to love everybody, knowing there is always more good than bad in everyone.

Today is the day I choose to live my Declaration of Independence, knowing my Word, my vow, my declaration is powerful, palpable and shining brightly in my life right now!

THE POWER OF TEN

We believe the ultimate goal of life is the complete emancipation from all discord of every nature and that it is sure to be attained by all.  ~Ernest Holmes, Declaration of Principles

We accept a lot of rules and regulations throughout our lives. Most of them aren't written, they are learned and accepted from childhood. Our parents, teachers, clergy, friends or society put these ideas into our heads and we buy into them out of emotional immaturity or blind acceptance because it is from an adult or role model. When we realize that these ideas no longer serve us (if they truly ever did), sometimes after painful experiences or even "hitting bottom," we finally step back and seek wisdom from our Source, seek original purpose and intelligence.

Our purpose is to express our divine potential ... The more we awaken to our divine nature, the more fully God expresses in and through our lives. We are here to set a positive example and be a role model for others. We are here to make the world a better place.   ~UNITY Principles

How do we do that? How do we emancipate ourselves from these ideas, these rules and regulations that are in our way to a prosperous, love-filled, peaceful life? It's many times a desperate mish-mash. Sometimes we re-read Chopra's 7 Spiritual Laws of Success or a Louise Hay book or an Ernest Holmes book or go back to Emerson's Spiritual Laws essay. We may refer back to the Golden Rule or the Buddha's Four Noble Truths. But, there's also the 7 Hermetic Principles and many, many more ideas and reading material that we can seek to inform us, inspire us and gives us tools, through spiritual laws, to reboot, rebuild and transcend.

How many of these spiritual laws are there? Do a search, it can be confusing. Is it...7? 33? 4? 11? 105? 1? Throughout the millennia of sacred texts and New Thought books, we grapple with whatever we can to assist us moving away from these learned, stagnant, and destructive rules and regulations. Today, I want to talk about the spiritual laws that add up to the power of ten.

Quite the interesting number, here are some examples of the power of ten:

     *The Roman numeral for 10 is X, which is two V’s (the Roman numeral for five) put together.

     *The length of an adult hand is usually 1/10 of their height.

     *The traditional 10th anniversary gift is tin, though in more recent times, the gift changed to diamonds....inflation, I suspect.

     *Pythagoras considered 10 to be the most sacred number, as 10 = 1 (existence) + 2 (creation) + 3 (life) + 4 (four elements-earth, air, fire and water). The Pythagoreans believed that 10 was the greatest of all numbers, because it grasps all arithmetic proportions.

     *Ten per cent of the world is left-handed.

     *A divine number in numerology, 10 means a return to unity, the fusion of being and non-being. It also denotes the completion of a cycle, making one very skilled at whatever they choose to do. It has been said that it takes 10,000 hours of practice before one becomes proficient at something. In China, the number 10 means perfection.

     *In sports, ten is the highest score possible in Olympic competitions. The top of the basketball hoop is 10' from the ground. The Big 10 is a collection of college athletic teams...though now it numbers 14.

     *There are ten letters on the Snellen Reading Chart we all use at the optometrists office or DMV: C – D – E – F – L – N – O – P – T – Z.

     *Interstate 10 is a coast to coast highway that spans from Florida to California.

     *Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak (1469 – 1539) in North India. They believe the word of God came through the Ten Gurus, in a series of rituals, poems, hymns and the Punjabi language. The final of the Ten Gurus was Guru Gobind Singh, finishing his work in approximately 1700.

     *In Kabbalah, which means to receive, The Tree of Life or the Ten Sefirot are the fundamental forces in the Universe. Kabbalists seek to receive the knowledge of God through the ten sefirot. The first three deal with the mind. The next three deal with emotion. The third group deals with what is acted upon. And the final sefirah is the manifestation.

     *Hinduism teaches that the god Vishnu will be reincarnated ten times. So far, Vishnu has been reincarnated nine times. The last incarnation was the Buddha during the Kali Yuga, which is the current time period. The final time is yet to come, which is called Kalki, who is expected to be arriving riding on a white horse and destroy all evil, bringing in a new age called Satya Yurga. I wonder if it will be apocalyptic?                           

     *In the Bible, the number 10 is used 242 times: ten plagues, Yeshua healed 10 lepers, tithing number in Leviticus/Malachai is 10%....exactly what my agent takes every time I get work.

The biggest of the big 10 are the tablets Charlton Heston brought down from Mt. Sinai. There were 15 originally, but, according to historian Mel Brooks, one tablet slipped and broke into 10 million pieces; so we were left with the ten.

Be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the laws which Moses my servant has commanded you; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may succeed wherever you go.    ~Joshua 7

It is written that these Powerful Spiritual Laws came from the finger of Spirit. In Scriptures, it is called Aseret ha'Dibrot or the Ten Statements or Utterances. It is a Decalogue, 10 Words that are never actually called the ten commandments, but nonetheless are 10 ideas of not only how to live an ethical life, but one that is connected to our greatest Self. So, here now, with a translation I believe is closest to the Hebrew in the Book of Exodus, the Power of Ten:

I am the Lord, God of you

It translates as the God of you, not the God over you … of you. Instead of a Man in the Sky fairy tale, the I AM impressed upon the Israelites that It was a being, an energy, a power of you. This denotes a relationship, a connection between God and mankind. The image of the I AM, written about in Genesis and earlier in Exodus is of you; our likeness to God does not have to do with the physical body, it is that of Its creative power, It's intelligence. It's image, not like looks, not a physical thing, but of an energetic, creative thing is of you...and me. This first utterance of these ten is a reminder that people are of God (so too, I believe are any living thing). We are an individualization of that Power, a personification and personalized version of that Divine Presence...the God of you.

Not have, shall to you gods other, beside my face 

Besides Its face, Its idea, Its energy, Its Love, you shall have no other. So I have a question for you: What would be the “other face,” the opposite of an infinite, wise, all-knowing, intelligence that is perfect, whole and complete, unconditionally loving creator of all things? Whatever that is, I don't want it in my life. I don't want negativity, hate, spitefulness, imperfect, dis-eased, dis-tressed energy or power in my life. Do you want that in your life?!?  Well that's the second spiritual law on these tablets. Don't bring that negative energy in your life. Don't buy into the idea that doing whatever, no matter the circumstances to others, to get what you want is the face of God. Theses first two bits of wisdom is pretty much all you need. If we all incorporated these first two, the others would follow naturally, but the Divine wants to be very clear. It continues...

Not you, shall take the name, God of you, for vanity

The Hebrew that is usually translated to the word "vanity" is sheva, which actually means empty or false. Don't use the name, the power, the creative energy that is of you, in you for empty or false means or reasons. We should never invoke It's name in a thoughtless, careless, or stormy manner. When we call upon our powers intentionally, we are actually invoking that we recognize and unify with God as First Cause, the highest power in the universe to manifest Itself through us for a specific purpose. When we use that power for false purposes, empty of the traits of Its face (see above), we are breaking the promise of our very existence. Since the Law is faithful and true to our revelations and declarations, It is always present whenever It is called. This is serious business, what we think, say and do, and we should never take it lightly. Our thoughts, backed by our feelings, turn into beliefs, and beliefs color and flavor and turn into our experiences. Using this power for destructive purposes to our selves or others, goes against the ideas of the creative power we have been gifted. I understand that fleeting thoughts sometimes are negative against one's self and others, but what are the consistent thoughts and words evoked by us all? I ask you, what words, ideas, thoughts and beliefs are you putting after “I Am...?”

Remember the day of Sabbath, to keep it apart

”Remember” is the usual translation of the word, za'kahor, but the Hebrew is more accurately deciphered as "to keep in mind, to actively focus. We are being reminded to actively focus on the Sabbath, which really means to cease or rest. So we need to not only actively focus on resting, but that this ceasing of work is a sacred activity to keep apart from other activities. It a sacrament to actively focus the mind and body on rest, relaxation, and mindfulness. We are to set apart time to focus on and honor the marvelous works of our thoughts and actions. It is not only a day off, it is a spiritual practice. And it is not only about one day off, it can be many moments throughout our day, week, etc. A time of ceasing work, mentally and physically, is a sacred time, a time of reflection, re-booting and just Being....a Divine time to reveal the Divinity within by consciously reconnecting with the Source and Substance of our supply.

Be heavy at the father of you and the mother of you

It is not only speaking about our physical parents, who are the catalyst for our existence. It is, as well, the Source and Substance of all of our supply and all life. It is the mother-father-God, parent of all, we are to "honor." You may not like them, your parents, they may not be nice, but the word does not really mean honor, it means be heavy at or give weight to them. It also does not mean who have to like them, but give import to what you are taught by and through them. Sometimes it is to be informed to how not to be or taught to be the very opposite of how they were to you or treated you. If your childhood was a negative experience as far as your parents go (which I am sad to hear), is it not advantageous to the rest of your life to forgive them, learn from their mistakes, be better than them and not focus on that lousy childhood? It may take some work to do that (and I honor the mental and emotional work you may have to complete) and that does not excuse their behavior, but if our perspective is on healing and learning, we honor ourselves and the father-mother-God in all.


These first five statements are about recognizing and unifying with that which we individualize, that which we represent. The tablets say to respect the Presence within and the Power it individualizes in you and us all. To honor the vertical relationship between each of us and the Universe through our parents, our community and our world. And to take time to rest, reboot and reconnect to the Great Parent. Continuing through the ten utterances, the next five are... 

Not you will murder

Let's look at this one a little deeper than the obvious. I believe this has to do with life, but not just physically. Of course the murder of another human is heinous. But I believe, this section encompasses more; it is speaking also of any shame, lies, gossip or slander said, as well. Shame causes the blood to leave the face which represents a death. Gossip, lies and slander is murderous to the dignity of a person. This type of murder is closer to the thousand cuts idea from the Arabian Nights stories.

In The Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), it says, "The evil tongue slays three persons: the utterer of the evil, the listener, and the one spoken about."  Yeshua also linked the ideas of our words and attitudes with murder in Matthew, when he said, "Know you not, that whatever enters the mouth, passes into the belly, and from there is ejected through the intestines? But that which proceeds from the mouth, comes from the heart: and that is what defiles a man. For, from the heart comes out evil thoughts, adultery, murder, theft, false testimony. These are the things that defile a person."

No will you commit adultery

Hebrew word for adultery is na-ap. Adultery is a grave sacrilege, since it not only violates the sworn promise of parties to a sacred covenant, but perverts the picture of our union with God Itself. It is a lie and a theft, an infidelity of promise and a shaming of all. Interestingly, it applies mostly to men, according to Jewish Law, but the idea is universal....don't break the sacred promise you made to your mate, your partner, your friend, etc.

No will you steal, afflict a companion with false witness (lie) or crave all which is companion's

The last three I lumped together. This is not just about theft from others, but theft from self, our self-deceptions. It's not just about lies about others, it, too, is about lying about or to oneself. All are One. The opposite of the word lie in Hebrew is emet (truth), which interestingly uses the first, middle and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, indicating truth is the first thing, last thing, and all in between everything. So, if you afflict a companion with false witness (a lie), you are being the opposite of truthful, and truth encompasses all of the best of life. Now the action of coveting is an ego thing; not trusting you can manifest whatever it is that you want that someone else might have. We don't need to covet, but template what it is someone else has that you would like in your life.  "I'll have what she's having" does not mean her possession, but one like it. And you do this with your thoughts and feelings and by manifesting it for yourself.

The seventh through tenth of the ideas of these tablets are about not taking from others, because there is no reason to take. The Universe is infinite, there is more than enough to go around. The act of taking is from a lack consciousness. It is from a perspective that one can't have. It is something we get taught and it can become a rule and regulation in our lives; one that, of course, does not ever serve us. If one gives oneself to the I AM and allows themselves to develop a have consciousness, it will show up, whatever that it is. There is infinite available in this infinite and ever-expanding Universe, so go ahead and get your own.

My point in this blog is let's not poo-poo, be afraid of or discount this mitzvah (the actual Hebrew word for commandment-see Deuteronomy 5:25). A mitzvah is a directive or landmark for guidance; a direction given on one's journey. These ten powerful statements are directions to guide us on our journey to manifesting a prosperous life. Like a Bar or Bat Mitzvah is the beginning of the journey for a 13 year old Jewish child to enter adulthood in the spiritual culture, so too, are these ten utterances a guide for spiritual and emotional maturity. They are ethics to be guided by, yes, but more than that, they are for keeping our hearts, minds and beliefs cleansed of dis-ease, dis-tress, dis-connection and dis-array.

The transformation takes place here. You don’t have to wonder if it will take place out there; the world will come when enough of us see through the night into the celestial light “that shineth more and more, unto the perfect day.     ~Ernest Holmes

This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate thereon day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then you shall succeed and prosper.  ~Joshua 8

Let's stop flirting with this Principle and the power of 10! 

Never sacrifice principle, even for a special occasion. When we sacrifice principle, we are sacrificing our Truth.   ~Dr. Robert Bitzer

Don't look outside of Self for Power or validation. The outside is full of anxiety that eats at us with money fears, the news, nagging bosses, gossip, etc. Stop, rest, and look inside your heart; then take action in mind, heart and body from wisdom of your highest self.

Rediscover Your True Potential 

by placing the Power of 10 in your life!

Affirmation
I make living prosperously a hip thing. I make living creatively a hip thing. I make living healthfully & full of vitality a hip thing. And I make living a life that is full of love, grace, ease and peace a hip thing.

I am hip to my Universal poTENtial times ten times ten times ten. So, I synchronize my heart, mind, intuition and imagination to the Presence of Spirit within, inspiring me every moment of every day to demonstrate my greatest poTENtial.... times ten times ten times ten.