Something to think about

THOUGHTS

Thought has the same relation to the mind as the wind has to the process of setting the mind into action.

Thought are the links between invisible substance and the visible form. For thought is a tangible substance and, united with will, is a projectile.

TELEPATHY

It is some times erroneously believed that psychic senses are extensions of the physical ones. They are in reality, soul senses, for the spiritual body has faculties analogous to its physical counterpart.

Clairvoyant people can easily see across oceans and continents, into closed boxes, sealed packets, etc. Clairvoyant persons can hear at any distance, and also hear thoughts as distinct as if spoken audibly. These faculties enable one to see and hear what is positively obscure, unseen and unheard by the physical senses. Some people exercise their psychic power naturally and freely, while others their activity is entirely dormant. By means of telepathy that we can communicate with the dwellers on the Other side.

TRUTH

What is truth? Truth is an emanation of the deity. Truth is the accurate verity and reality. It is the understanding by the mind of that which actually is. It is the unchangeable amid the unchangeable, the substance behind the shadow, the permanent within the transient form. Truth is a constant, not a variant. It cannot be added to or diminished from its sum total.

Each mind sees the truth, distorted through its own medium. Since men are in diverse stages of unfoldment and their minds enshrouded in various degrees of ignorance, it is necessary to have different aspects of truth. Hence, the importance of being tolerant with those who choose to worship God different than we do. All truth leads to the same goals, and all religions and philosophies which have stood the test of time contain some element of truth, otherwise they would have perished.

FREE WILL

It is true that all which happens to man is in accordance with law, as there is no such thing as chance or accident; every event is adamantly linked to a preceding cause and to a subsequent effect. But that man is devoid of volition and a puppet in the hands of a higher power is contrary to logic and contradictory to Divine Nature. It is debasing the Deity to think that we are enmeshed in the web of life, futilely trying to extricate ourselves like flies entangled in a spider's weaving. This implies that our efforts for progression and advancement are amusing to the Ruler of the Universe. Such a concept makes God a lower creature than man; for no earthly father would hold his children in bondage when he had the power to free them.
What is the will? Is it a primary or secondary urge? Will is the self in action. Wherever there is true volition, there the ego is expressing itself.

Some assume that, because God is omniscient and knows what men will do, there is no possibility of free will. God's omniscience does not preclude men's exercise of choice any more than children are deprived of freedom because their parents usually know quite well how they will react under different circumstances.

And this is certain, if only God's will prevailed on earth, it would be a paradise. But, simultaneously with men's exercise of their will began the existence of evil. For evil is not a person, but a force created for good, but which can be used for malevolent purposes. Man's perverted use of this force has brought into the world suffering, sorrow, misery, disease, war, pestilence and all manner of ungodly conditions. And these creations of man's volition will exist as long as he persists in blindly pursuing his erring way.

No perspicacity is required to realize that absolute free will without absolute wisdom would be an unmitigated curse; the worst conceivable calamity which God could impose upon man. When we consider what man in his ignorance has done with limited will and power, just the thought of what would happen had he absolute free will fills one with apprehension and terror. But God is merciful and, in His infinite love and wisdom, limits and controls man's freedom of action.

As men grow in spiritual stature, they gradually see the folly of independent action and submit to Divine guidance. And, in relinquishing their will, they are directed by the influence of that Higher Wisdom and molded and guided into the path of true happiness.

The soul is perfect in its pure essence. It is from its union with matter alone that all the imperfections, error and evil arise; but these do not affect its inner germ essence, for they are not its cause, which is the Absolute and Supreme Intelligence, which is God. The soul is responsible for its desires and for its choice of actions, and for this reason God established causes and effects. The soul, being immortal, came from God and must return to that Great Soul from which it issued. But as it was given to man pure and undefiled, free from all stain and error, it cannot ascend to that Celestial Abode until it shall have been refined and purified from all the evil it has wrought and all the errors and faults committed through its union with matter.

MIRACLES

although the circumstances of the occurrence or miracles may appear unusual, they are never contrary to nature, but only contrary to nature as known to us, for everything that happens, or has happened, or will happen, can happen only through law. Also lack of knowledge creates a belief in miracles.
Intelligence or mind is master of natural law. A higher law can be employed to overrule and direct a lower one. Intelligence can override it, vary it, and use it however it will, and can make it work. Christ more than once hinted that, by an increase of power, ascendancy is gained over the lower and physical laws; that by faith, knowledge and power men may control things that are around them, just as the body can be made subservient to the mind power. Indications of it also pervade the history of the race down to our time.

EQUALITY

From whence arise the vast disparities seen among men—the tremendous differences in ability, intelligence and morality? The answer is soul age. Men are on different rungs of life's evolutionary ladder, manifesting diverse degrees of unfoldment, and never on earth or elsewhere will all men be on the same level of mental, moral and spiritual development.

Nature's Author being no respecter of persons, creates all men equal and unlike, and men's differences date from the time of their involutionary pilgrimage into matter, not from the time of physical birth. At this time souls already are endowed with definite personalities, marked characteristics, developed talents and pronounced sympathies and antipathies. Moreover, immense gulfs often separate their moral, mental and spiritual acquirements. As all men are dissimilar but equally endowed, what is possible for one is possible for all; not contemporaneously, but eventually. Inasmuch as human nature is constant, no two men will ever be, or can be exactly alike.

AFFINITY

Affinity is the force which keeps bodies together without any visible bonds and is inherent in all existing things. Affinity is the mind's law of attraction, and that we gravitate to where we belong is a truth recognized by proverbs of every country. "Like attracts like," "Birds of a feather flock together," "Water finds its own level," "Show me your company and I'll tell you what you are," all have reference to this universal law, for the mind is a magnet and draws to itself all things of like nature. We cannot attract that for which we have no inner response, no more than the needle of the compass can point in any direction except north.
Affinity is the cohesive force of all associations, and on the mental plane draws together people with similar ideas, ideals, interests and ambitions.

INDIVIDUALITY

Individuality is the mental stamp we give our actions; we label everything with it. Every one of us has his own particular way of doing things; it is always unconsciously present and connected with everything we do.

Each individual will differ everlastingly from every other individual. There is no one type proper to all mankind. Human nature is organized and equipped for progression throughout the ages. Each faculty and quality of one's being is replete with an irresistible tendency to unfold in the direction of an endless career. Each individual will be developed in the likeness of its own interior character bequeathed by Father God and Mother Nature. There will be greater differences than we now have any idea of; we never have been the same and we shall be more different with the centuries.

REALITY

"All reality exists in the mind. The outer phenomenon, that which appears, is only its outer expression. The visible universe is the reflection of the invisible," says Plato.

The Patient, the Healer and God

Healing comes to the sick in many ways. Some are healed through faith, some through the act of prayer, which is faith in action. Some are healed because the body has activated its own internal healing power. Can advanced cancer or other debilitating dis-eases be healed? Just what does it take for healing to take place?

In the healing classes of a certified healer, men and women are taught that the individual who is acting as the healer is just a channel between God and the patient. Is this all there is to healing; to have a person act as a channel for healing? No! The patient is just as much a part of the healing process as God, the healer (channel), and the patient. It is a threesome that works together to effectively produce the needed healing.

Few people today believe that God heals as he did in the days of Jesus. They are all wrong. God still heals as He did then. One must remember the words of Jesus when he said “the things I do you can do and greater things than these you can do.” So what does it take for healing to take place today?

It requires that the person acting as the healer truly understand that they are a channel for God’s healing energy. If the healer doesn’t believe that healing can take place through them, the healing energy is stopped from its flow. God can do little for the patient when the healer doesn’t believe that they are his channel.

Remember that it takes so little faith – the amount of faith represented by a mustard seed – so little, and yet so much. It is not the person acting as the healer that heals; it is God the source of all healing who does the healing. The channel MUST be open to the flow of God’s healing energy. The patient MUST know that they WILL receive the healing they desire, and be ready to accept it without question.

I hear of so many people today who are afflicted with cancer, and other diseases that lead to death of the physical body – diseases that can be stopped in their tracts. If only the patient understood that God wants them to be strong and healthy. "But, you say," However this one little word can make the difference between healing and the downward spiral to physical death.

The question is – Do you have faith, the knowing that healing takes place even today as it did two thousand years ago?

Faith

Good morning/evening and welcome. I would like to talk to you about faith this morning/evening. As many of you know, faith, as described by Webster is a “Complete confidence in a person or plan.” Faith is more than just a vague belief in a God or a person or thing. Faith is personal. It can make the difference between succeeding or failing in a project, family planning, a trip around the world, being able to sing in front of a thousand people, etc.

Faith is some thing I know some thing about. Faith brought me and my family to Canada. Faith from the time I was in high school until a few years ago, fulfilled a dream that I would be ordained as a representative of God here in this world. And on January 10th 2009 I was ordained by the Spiritualist Church of Canada, one of two Canadian Spiritualist Associations chartered in Ottawa, Canada.

Some may ask, “Why did I think that I would ever be ordained? Well, I can only say that it was faith that God in His infinite wisdom knew that it would take me that long to over come a several childhood problems, in order that I could be one of His representatives here.

Friends, God is the source of all faith and it is that kind of faith in Him that makes the difference between success and failure in this world. Never underestimate the will of God. If you are to be a housewife, father, business man/woman, engineer or even a bum on the corner, God has work for you and me and it is our duty to have faith that He will help us achieve our goals.

Some would say that we planned this life while on the spirit side and what we could achieve to the smallest detail to the largest. If this were so, why would we need to come here since we would have already experienced our lessons beforehand? If we truly believe that we only planned the lessons that we needed to learn in this life time, then it would be up to us to make the decisions necessary to achieve those lessons in this life time. Freedom of choice then, allows us to work towards learning our lessons or doing something entirely different. Free will allows us to make those kinds of decisions.

Some would say that this is “all hogwash” and is further from the truth than anything that they could possibly believe.” I agree. We are here to serve our fellow man. Serving as a son, daughter, owner of a company, salesman, engineer, or in what ever capacity we are trained and able to perform.

I have been reading about life in the Spirit World. In the Spirit World people work in a state of total love serving each other and those who are here in this physical world. It is a real privilege for us to serve. On earth, we receive payment in the form of money or goods. We share our wealth with our family members and others. We are constantly sharing. How could it be otherwise? We learn from the multitude of experiences we have daily. If we didn’t have these experiences, life would be dull and without any kind of challenge. We need to be challenged in order that new products and services can be developed. These things make life worth while. They provide us with a reason for living. When we lose our reason for living, we then think about leaving this world.

It is even a known fact that when men and women retire, if they don’t have hobbies or are involved in serving others, they may only live for a few months or years. Even our health depends on whether or not we have a reason to live.

SO how does all of the above relate to faith? Faith gives us reasons to live. Faith gives us the desire to develop the methods and steps that are necessary in the development of ourselves, new products and services to others.

Faith is what is needed to accomplish our goals and reasons for living.

Location of the "Spirit Worlds"

In Anthony Borgis’ book, The World Unseen, there is an excellent description of just where the “Spirit Worlds” may be located in relationship to this physical earth. I have placed a copy of the contents of chapter V, part two, titled geographical position below that describes the location of those spirit worlds. I think that you will agree that it is a land very close o the earth plain and yet, of a much finer vibration than this physical world.

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION

WHAT is the geographical position of the spirit world in relation to the earth world? Many people have wondered this at different times -- and I include myself among the many! And that leads to a further question concerning the disposition of other realms than those of which I have given you some details.

I have told you how, when I had reached a critical moment as I lay upon my final bed of earthly sickness, I at length felt an irresistible urge to rise up, and that I yielded to that urge easily and successfully. In this particular case the line of demarcation was very fine between the end of my earthly life and the beginning of my spirit life, because I was in full possession of my senses, fully conscious. The actual transition from one world to the other was in this respect imperceptible.
But I can narrow things down still further by recalling that there came a moment when the physical sensations attendant upon my last illness left me abruptly, and in place of them a delightful feeling of bodily ease and peace of mind completely enveloped me. I felt that I wanted to breathe deeply, and I did so. The impulse to rise from my bed, and the passing of all physical sensations, mark the instant of my physical 'death' and my birth into the world of spirit.

But when this took place I was still in my own earthly bedroom, and therefore a part, at least, of the spirit world must interpenetrate the earth world. This particular experience will give us something of a point of departure for our geographical explorations.

The next event in my transition was the arrival of my good friend Edwin, and our meeting after the lapse of years. The meeting took place seemingly in the bedroom. Then, after we had greeted each other and chatted for a brief space, Edwin proposed that we should depart from our present surroundings, which, in the circumstances, were rather doleful. He took me by the arm, told me to close my eyes, and I felt myself gently moving through space. I had no clear perception of direction. I only knew that I was traveling, but whether up or down or horizontally, it was impossible for me to say. Our rate of progress increased until at last I was told to open my eyes, and then I found myself standing before my spirit home.

Since that day I have learnt many things, and one of my first lessons was in the art of personal locomotion by other means than walking. There are immense distances here to cover, and sometimes we need to cover them instantly. We do so by the power of thought as I have already outlined to you. But the strangest thing to me, at first, was the fact that when I moved myself through space at any greater speed than ordinary walking, I found that I had no sense of absolute direction, but one of movement only. If I chose to shut my eyes whilst traveling with moderate speed I merely shut out the scenery, or whatever else were my surroundings. It must not be thought that it is possible to lose ones way. That would be out of the question!
This absence of a sense of direction in no way interferes with our initial thought function in personal locomotion. Once we have determined to journey to a certain place, we set our thoughts in motion and they, in turn -- instantaneously -- set our spirit bodies in motion. One might almost say 'it requires no thinking about!' I have spoken to other people on these matters, and compared notes generally -- it is a thing we all do when we are newly-arrived in the spirit world; and we never lack willing friends to help us in our early difficulties. I have found that it is common to all here in spirit, this absence of any directional perception when moving rapidly. Of course, when we travel instantaneously there is no 'time' to observe any object whatsoever. There is no observable interval of time between the moment we leave for, and the moment we arrive at, our destination.

It will be appreciated from this factor of directional unawareness, if I may so term it, that to assign a precise location to the spirit world, relative to the earth world, is a difficult matter. Indeed, I doubt if anyone fairly new to spirit life could possibly hazard a guess as to his relative geographical position! Of course, there are scores upon scores of people who never bother their heads about such things. They have severed all connection with the earth world, and they have done with it for all time. They know positively that they are alive and in the spirit world, but as to the exact position of that world in the universe, they have no intention of troubling themselves. But our own case is different. I am in very active communion with the earth world, and I think it would be of interest if I were to try to give some idea just where the spirit lands are situated.

The spirit world is divided into spheres or realms. These two words of designation have passed into current acceptation among most of those on the earth-plane who have a knowledge of, and practice, communication, with our world. In speaking to you thus, I have used the words interchangeably. They suffice for our purpose -- one can think of none better.

These spheres have been given numbers by some students, ranging from the first, which is the lowest, up to the seventh, the highest. It is customary among most of us here to follow this system of numbering. The idea originated, I am told, from our side, and it is a very useful and convenient method of conveying the information of one's position upon the ladder of spiritual evolution.

The spheres of the spirit world are ranged in a series of bands forming a number of concentric circles around the earth. These circles reach out into the infinity of space, and they are invisibly linked with the earth world in its lesser revolution upon its axis and, of course, in its greater revolution round the sun. The sun has no influence whatever upon the spirit world. We have no consciousness of it at all since it is purely material.

An exemplification of the concentric circles is afforded us when we are told that a visitant from a higher sphere is coming down to us. He is relatively above us, both spiritually and spatially.

The low realms of darkness are situated close to the earth-plane and interpenetrate it at their lowest. It was through these that I passed with Edwin when he came to take me to my spirit home, and it was for that reason that he recommended that I keep my eyes firmly closed until he should tell me to open them again. I was sufficiently alert -- too much so, because I was fully conscious -- otherwise to see some of the hideousness that the earth world has cast into these dark places.

With the spirit world made up of a series of concentric circles, having the earth world approximately at the center, we find that the spheres are subdivided laterally to correspond broadly with the various nations of the earth, each subdivision being situated immediately over its kindred nation. When you consider the enormous variety of national temperament and characteristics distributed throughout the earth-plane, it is not surprising that the people of each nation should wish to gravitate to those of their own kind in the spirit world, just as much as they wish to do when upon the earth-plane. Individual choice, of course, is free and open to every soul; he may live in whatsoever part of his own realm that he pleases. There are no fixed territorial frontiers here to separate the nations. They make their own invisible frontiers of temperament and customs, but the members of all the nations of the earth are at liberty to intermingle in the spirit world, and to enjoy unrestricted and happy social intercourse. The language question presents no difficulty, because we are not obliged to speak aloud. We can transmit our thoughts to each other with the full assurance that they will be received by the person whom we are mentally addressing. Thus language constitutes no barrier.

Each of the national subdivisions of the spirit world bears the characteristics of its earthly counterpart. That is but natural. My own home is situated in surroundings that are familiar to me and that are a counterpart of my earthly home in general appearance. These surroundings are not an exact replica of the earthly surroundings. By which, I mean that my spirit home is located in the type of countryside with which my friends and I are very familiar.

This dividing of the nations extends only to a certain number of realms. Beyond that, nationality, as such, ceases to be. There we retain only our outward and visible distinctions, such as the color of our skin, whether it be yellow, white, or black. We shall cease to be nationally conscious such as we are when upon the earth-plane and during our sojourn in the realms of less degree. Our homes will no longer have a definite national appearance, and will partake more of pure spirit.
You will recall how, in building the annex to the library, I introduced you to the ruler of the realm. Each realm has such a personage, though the term ruler is not a really good one, because it is apt to convey something of a wrong impression. It would be much happier and far more exact to say that he presides over the realm.
Although each realm has its own resident ruler, all the rulers belong to a higher sphere than that over which they preside.

The position is such that it calls for high attributes on the part of its holder, and the office is held only by those who have had long residence in the spirit world. Many of them have been here thousands of years. Great spirituality is not alone sufficient; if it were, there are many wonderful souls who could hold such office with distinction. But a ruler must possess a great deal of knowledge and experience of humanity, and in addition he must always be able to exercise wise discretion in dealing with the various matters that come before him. And all the ruler's experience and knowledge, all his sympathy and understanding, are ever at the disposal of the inhabitants of his realm, while his kindness and infinite patience are always in evidence. This great soul is ever accessible to any who wish to consult him, or who bring him their problems for solution.

We have our problems, just as do you upon the earth-plane, although our problems are very different from yours. Ours are never of the nature of those harassing worries and cares of the earth world. Speaking for myself, my first problem, soon after my transition, was how to set right what I considered to be a wrong I had done when I was incarnate. I had written a book in which I had treated the truth of communication with the earth world with great unfairness. When I spoke to Edwin upon the subject he -- all unknown to me -- had sought the advice of the ruler of the realm, and the result was that another great soul had come to discuss the matter with me, and to offer help and advice in my difficulty. It was the ruler's knowledge of my affairs in the first instance that eventually brought about a happy ending to my trouble.

It will be seen from this that a ruler's knowledge of the people over whom he presides is vast. Lest it should be thought that it is humanly impossible for one mind to carry so much knowledge of the affairs of so many people as there must be in one realm, it must be understood that the mind of the incarnate is limited in its range of action by the physical brain. In the spirit world we have no physical brain to hamper us, and our minds are fully and completely retentive of all knowledge that comes to us. We do not forget those things we have learned in the spirit world, whether they be spiritual lessons or plain facts. But it takes time, as you would say, to learn, and that is why the rulers of realms have spent many thousands of earthly years in the spirit world before they are placed in charge of so many people. For the rulers have to guide and direct them, help them in their work, and unite with them in their recreation; to be an inspiration to them, and to act towards them, in every sense of the word, as a devoted father. There is no such thing as unhappiness in this realm -- if for no other reason than that it would be impossible with such a grand soul to smooth away the troubles.

Each sphere is completely invisible to the inhabitants of the spheres below it, and in this respect, at least, it provides its own boundary.
In journeying to a lower realm one sees the terrain gradually degenerating.
As we draw towards a higher realm, just the opposite takes place: we see the land around us becoming more ethereal, more refined, and this forms a natural barrier to those of us who have not yet progressed sufficiently to become inhabitants of that realm.

Now, I have already told you how the realms are one above the other. How, then, does one proceed from one to the next, either above or below? There must be some point or points in each realm where there is a distinct upward inclination to the one and a distinct declivity to the other. Simple though it sounds, that is precisely the case.

It is not difficult to imagine, perhaps a gradual descent to regions that are less salubrious. We can call to our aid our earthly experiences, and recollect some rocky places that we could visit and descend, treacherous to the feet, leading us down into dark caverns, cold and damp and uninviting, where we could imagine all manner of noisome things lurking in readiness for us. We can then remember that above us, though out of sight, there shines the sun, spreading warmth and light upon the earth, while yet we seem to be in another world altogether. We might wander about through underground caves until we become lost and are shut off completely from the land above us. But we know that there is one way up at least, if we can but find it, and if we persevere in our attempts to scale the dangerous rocky pathway.

If we commence our world of spirit in the lowest recess of this earthly picture of the subterranean caves, we can see how each of the realms is connected with the realm immediately above it. The earthly analogy is, of course, an elementary one, but the process and the principle are the same. The transition in the spirit world from one realm to another is literal -- as literal as passing from the dark cavern to the sunlight above, as literal as walking from one room in your house to another, whether upstairs or down.

To pass from this realm where I live to the next higher, I shall find myself walking along gently rising ground. As I proceed I shall see all the unmistakable signs -- and feel them -- of a realm of greater spiritual refinement. There will eventually come a point in my walking when I can go no further because I shall feel most uncomfortable spiritually. If I should be foolish enough to try to defy these feelings, I should, at length, find that I was completely unable to venture a foot forward without undergoing sensations which I could not possibly bear. I should not be able to see anything before me, only that which lay behind me. But whether we are standing at one of the boundaries, or whether we are well within the confines of our own realm, there comes a certain line in the bridge between the realms where the higher realm becomes invisible to less spiritual eyes. Just as certain light rays are invisible to earthly eyes, and certain sounds and musical notes are inaudible to earthly ears, so are the higher realms invisible to the inhabitants of the lower realms.

And the reason is that each realm possesses a higher vibrational rate than that below it, and is therefore invisible and inaudible to those who live below it.
Thus we can see that another natural law operates for our own good.

Law of Personal Responsibility

Spiritual is a Philosophy because it studies the Laws of Nature both on the seen and unseen side of life and bases its conclusions upon present Observed facts. It accepts statements of observed facts of past ages and conclusions drawn there from, when sustained by reason and by results of observed facts of the present day.

This is the primary principle that guides the path work. At first glance, this principle is sometimes hard to accept. It seems so much easier to accept even defeat if only one can blame the circumstances or bad luck on other people's faults.

Accepting the law of personal responsibility wipes out self-pity, resignation, passive endurance, smoldering resentments against the injustices of life, and the masochistic game of harping on one's case against life.

Yet this apparently hard law is the most hopeful, encouraging, liberating, and strengthening truth of all truths. It enables you to resolve whatever problem you may have. It opens up life with all its rich possibilities. It forces you to see things in their true light and, uncomfortable as this may first seem, it leaves you with a lot more self-respect, integrity, and hope than the helpless resignation to circumstances life is supposed to bring about without your doing. It makes defeat unnecessary because it also removes, among other things, your childish illusion of omnipotence, which is just as unrealistic as the illusion of being life's passive victim. Accepting your own limitations and the limitations of others increases your power to direct your life meaningfully.

The law of personal responsibility is the guiding principle in the search for the root of your obstructions. Contemplating the fulfillment or the lack of it in your life gives you a blueprint of the areas where an inner corresponding attitude is responsible for either. This approach is diametrically opposed to the usual way, but it is indeed a reliable and truthful one that must always lead to results, provided you go deeply enough and are truly honest in the endeavor.

1henever you arrive at a juncture on the path from which there seems no way out, or where you cannot see how to change, how to resolve the problem, you can be quite sure that you have not yet found an important tool to unlock the door, no matter how profound previous insights and changes may have been. A total insight always shows the way out. Thus, recognitions can be differentiated. Are they of the kind mentioned here? Or are they merely leading to them? The former always give a sense of joy, liberation, hope, strength and light. They infuse new energy into your system. The latter may have a temporarily debilitating effect on the personality. The former enable you to recognize the most unflattering facts about yourself without in the least diminishing your sense of worth and integrity -- on the contrary, this sense increases. The latter type burdens the insight with guilt.

When you have experienced the difference between these two types of recognition, you can protect yourself from hopelessness, or at least realize that the hopelessness is in itself a sign that the way out has not yet been found. Rather than weakening you, the hopelessness can then be an incentive to surge on with all your vigor until the real way is open.

When you finally see that an unfulfilled longing or painful conflict of long standing is the result of an inner attitude with concomitant behavior patterns, you are no longer a helpless tool in the hand of fate. If such an attitude is completely seen, observed in action, and accepted for what it is, you may still be unwilling to give it up -- for whatever reasons and misconceptions -- but at least you see a vitally important connection between your inner life and the outer manifestations of it. It is then possible to embark on a special search for the reason why you so stubbornly hold on to a destructive attitude.

Truth

Truth is a subject in which every one has an opinion. Webster’s Dictionary says that truth is (1) the true or actual state of a matter. (2) Conformity with fact, or reality.

A person often expresses their truth in a conversation, but because something happens during the conversation, we can misread what was being said and a big problem can suddenly exist.

How do we express truth in our daily conversations? Do we express ourselves bluntly? Are we too subtle in the way we express our truths? Can this be the source of misunderstanding? Do we “read” into others truth what they really didn’t say or mean? Is it possible that we sometimes miss interrupted the truth? I believe that there is more truth expressed in, conversations, than “meets the eye”.

How often have you been in a conversation with another person and think that they said one thing, when they really said something else? Perhaps, we were distracted for a brief moment and missed something. This causes us to misread the truth that the other person was trying to express during the conversation; we missed the point. Could it be possible that a momentary distraction may put us into a problem situation? It is our responsibility to stop, ask questions, and ponder what it was that we thought was said. In this way, we can get a better understanding of what it was they were trying to convey.

All of us want to be understood and express ourselves so that others understand us, and that we are not misunderstood.

I believe that we are all in the same boat. We just don’t ask questions and we don’t try to understand other people. If a person says to you “you said that...” We MUST be ready to get to the truth by talking it over.

The other day, I emailed a friend that he was acting in a certain way and that “I just didn’t know what to think”. Did I really understand him? Did he really understand me? Was his truth something that we both missed? Possibly, but I really don’t know. He never returned my email, or called me to express his understanding of the situation, so that we could come to an understanding. It is indeed sad when we try to express ourselves to other people and they just don’t understand us. I hope that I am not being too blunt and that I am expressing myself clearly in a truthful way.

I hope that this short article will make you think a little and take the time to make calls, emails or even write a letters to others you may have misunderstood in order that the truth can come out. Maybe a friendship can be saved because they now understand you, and you them. The truth must always be expressed.

The Fourth Dimension

I have been reading a book by Dr. David Y. Cho titled “The Fourth Dimension”. This is an interesting book because it shows how we on this physical plane work with spirit. In the book, Dr. Cho says that the fourth dimension is where the Holy Spirit dwells. He said that the second dimension includes and controls the first dimension, and the third dimension includes and controls the second, so the fourth dimension includes and control the third dimension, producing a creation of order and beauty. The spirit is the forth dimension. Every human being is a spiritual being as well as a physical being. They have fourth dimension as well as the third dimension in their hearts. So men, by exploring their spiritual sphere of the fourth dimension through the development of concentrated visions and dreams in their imaginations, can brood over and incubate the third dimension, influencing and changing it. This is what the Holy Spirit taught me”.

Dr. Cho continued by saying “yoga and Buddhist believers could explore and develop their human fourth dimension, their spiritual sphere; with clear-cut vision and mental pictures of health they could incubate over their bodies. By natural order the fourth dimension has power over the third dimension, and the human spirit, within limitations, has the power to give order and creation. God gave power to human beings to control the material world and to have dominion over material things, a responsibility they can carry out through the fourth dimension. Now unbelievers, by exploring and developing their inner spiritual being in such a way, can carry out dominion upon their third dimension, which includes their physical sickness and diseases”. However, he goes on to say that “the fourth dimension of non-believer (believer is Christ) belongs to Satan; the human spirit joins up with the spirit of the evil fourth dimension, and with the evil fourth dimension they carry out domination over their bodies and circumstances.”

As I read of Dr. Cho’s description of the fourth dimension, I became more and more convinced that he is talking about the same dimension that we Spiritualists work with when we prepare ourselves to give messages. However, as I continued to read, I noticed that Dr. Cho divided up the fourth dimension into the dimension of the Holy Spirit and the dimension of Satan. How can good and evil occupy the same place at the same time? He never talks about that.

As I read the book I began to understand more and more how much Christianity confuses God’s creation by miss interrupting the Bible. Christians use the Bible to back up their, in so many cases, nonsense. They forget that God does spell out in the Bible his plan for humanity and that He is a God of Love. It was through strong persuasion that God worked with the Old Testament nations, even if it meant that those nations had to be captured and sold into slavery to other countries. It is a fact that God has given us total free well and it is our responsibility to use that right for our highest good and the highest good of our fellow man. However, we continuously “fall down on the job” and make mistakes that are beyond understanding. But when we take a careful look at those mistakes, we find that they were for our highest good and that through them we learn and grow spiritually.

Healing also comes from the fourth dimension when in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. By changing our visions and dreams, we carry out dominion over this third dimension material world. Yes it is through our imagination, our visions and dreams”.

Convince Who? by Richard Rowley

I have come to realize the hard way that we can’t change people’s beliefs by reasoning and argument. We can’t tell and evangelical or a born again Christian that the Bible is not the word of God, or that they are not going to be saved by Jesus in the way they think,, when they believe that Jesus has turned their life around or that they have a personal relationship with God. We can’t bring doubt to them, nor take away their comfort blanket without incurring a lot of anger and hate – their defensive reaction is powerful, and sometimes dangerous.

I have a close relative who is now a born-again Christian, and that person has cursed me many times and says I will rot in hell. Similarly, when I carelessly mentioned to a Jewish lady that Jahweh is only a local mountain volcano god, I incurred her wrath and venom, and it was impossible to continue the discussion. In the same way fundamentalist Muslims can’t take a joke – how many people have been killed in riots over the Danish cartoons, and earlier, Salman Rushdie produced a similar reaction from one glib remark in his Satanic Verses.

We can’t persuade true believers of the many Hindu gods that they are imaginary, or that the African and South American religions which believe in various spirit entities are merely invoking and materializing thought forms, or their own mental creations. The Spiritualist group in Toronto which create “Philip” demonstrated this. In the same way, Tibetan monks can produce a “tulpa.” These spirits or gods can be quite powerful and sometimes dangerous, since they do attract low level malevolent spirits which increase their power for mischief and even murder. The amount of havoc created depends on the motives of the priests and worshippers. We can see what happens in wartime just by taking a look at history – for example, Germany and the Nazis in WW II, or Cambodia and Rwanda, when negative beliefs were backed up by equally dangerous spiritual forces which got out of control.

This downside of religion and belief systems has for the most part been avoided by Spiritualists, Spiritists, Buddhists, Bahai's and some other sects, since they provide a tolerance and middle path between various philosophies. The South American Catholics, with their Day of the Dead, the Chinese and Japanese, with their ancestor worship, and a acceptance by a large percentage of the world population of some aspect of the theory of reincarnation, provide an opening toward a more tolerant view of humankind's belief systems.

Once we get past the various superstitious beliefs in many gods, entities and spirits, and look into the concept of one God and supreme intelligence above all others, we move into uncharted, unfathomable waters, and they are too deep for us to investigate with our present mental equipment. I for one prefer to keep out of the discussion with atheists and materialists, and just demonstrate what I know of the river of life, close by, with contact with our loved ones, friends and guides in spirit. We will learn more when we join them one day, sooner or later.

But with regard to other people's orthodox beliefs and deep convictions, we can't take away a dog's bone without getting a few savage bites, and a good guard dog will defend his territory to the bitter end. So, can we ever change what we consider to be erroneous or false beliefs in others? I leave the answer open, since I do not know. Perhaps we are here to test our own beliefs, rather than impose ours on others, and make a reality check, and learn for ourselves. We can only continue quietly to demonstrate the truth of life as we know it, and as we see and hear it. Whether we survive these present turbulent times or not, we know that we will survive and continue our work, beyond. I'm sure of that.

Richard Rowley

Stepping Up To The Plate

He stepped up to the plate, cocked the bat over his left shoulder and waited, and waited, and waited…

As the batter stood there waiting for the first pitch, the crowd roared and yelled with expectation, he saw the ball traversing the space between him and the pitcher. He was ready. But as he waited for the ball to arrive for him to hit, it just disappeared. The ball just disappeared. The batter looked out to the mound expecting to see the pitcher there. He was shocked to find that there was no pitcher on the mound. As he lowered the bat, the crowed became quiet – everyone looked to the umpire – but he was gone too. The batter looked around the basemen and to his surprise, the plates were empty. All of the basemen were gone. There was no one in the out field; there was no longer a pitcher on the mound, no fielders and no umpires. Then the batter remembered that just a few moments before he had heard the crowd yelling. He looked around, because everything seemed to be so quiet. To his surprise, the bleachers were empty.

What happened? Where did everyone go? Why was he alone on a baseball field that just moments ago was filled with people? The bases had all of their basemen, the fielders were in place and all was at the ready for the first pitch that signaled the start of the game.

As you may have guessed it was only a dream and yet a dream that so many of us have had. A dream of being the star of the game.

Life can be like that, we expect that something is going to happen were we become a star player, and even believe that everything has been done to bring about the expected end. But nothing happens, or if it does, we are disappointed with the results. Something just got in the way.

I have written a number of articles in the past year that were meant to provide the reader with something to think about. Out all those articles, it seems that some people who read them are only capable of responding with negativity. Why? I don’t know. Maybe they think that I have an “axe to grind” and that I’m attempting to take out on them my problems, instead of them looking at themselves and thinking about their actions in light of the article’s subject. The pitch was sent to the plate, but how many of us are ready to receive the pitch? Did you make the ball disappear on the way? It was not the ball that was pitched that was the mistake, maybe it was just the subject. It hit too close to home.

My pitch is, for the spiritually-oriented person to know how to receive a pitched ball. It is by knowing the truth that the ball represents and its ultimate meaning, that a home run can be hit without being caught at the last second and the home run spoiled – hence misunderstanding.

Can it be that they “just don’t get it”? They just don’t get the message? Is it possible that the problem is someone else’s and really has nothing to do with them? Hummmm

As a minister, it is my duty to try and remind people that it is their time at bat and that its time for them to think beyond what seems to be, and think more about what is really happening in their lives. To think about their place on the batter mound and to think about their life in relationship to the teachings of the ball known as the Bible, the Koran, or another scriptural book they believe in. It is also my duty as a Spiritualist minister to remind people who say that they are on a spiritual path, that they are expected to act in a certain way. Not my way, but in the way that the Principles of Spiritualism express.

Each time a person attends a Spiritualist church’s devotional service, they repeat the seven, sometime more, Principles of Spiritualism that the church believes in. Principles, that if followed are as valuable as the teachings of the Bible’s “Ten Commandments” and the message that Jesus tried to get over to his disciples. But how many people really believe in the Ten Commandments or even accept the teachings of Jesus? How many people truly believe in the Principles of Spiritualism? As a Spiritualist minister, I can say that I believe in both the Ten Commandments, the teachings of Jesus and the Principles of Spiritualism. If I didn’t, I would not be an ordained minister.

It doesn’t really matter how good a person believes they are. It doesn’t matter if they even believe that they are always right and everyone else is wrong. It doesn’t matter if they believe that they are on a spiritual path or that they are a good Christian or Spiritualist. What matters is what they truly believe and how they show it in their actions.

The Law of Cause and Effect is always in operation and it holds within it the judgment of ones true self. The Law is aware of all of our secrets and the life that we display to others. The Law knows if we are truly good or only kidding ourselves. It makes sure that you and I will never get away with anything in this life – actions and thoughts whether verbalized or not. If we do not take the appropriate actions here and now to right our wrong thoughts and actions, the law will take the appropriate action for us. The Law will take the appropriate action here or here after – this is a fact. Why wait?

Let me tell you about my older brother. My bother believed that he was a good person and a good Christian and would automatically go to heaven when he died. Well, when he got to the place he believed was heaven, he found out that he was not able to claim his rightful place there because he had wronged so many people here in this physical world. He came to me through a medium friend who said that “my brother was asking me to forgive him for all the wrongs that he did to me while he lived in the physical so that he could advance in spirit world. He needed my forgiveness because it was holding him back”. As a Spiritualist and Christian I gladly gave him my forgiveness. I believed that he would then be able to advance spiritually. To me, this was proof; not only of the continuity of life, but that someone I grew up was able to learn what I had already learned as a Spiritualist. The Law is truly in effect and that a person must do what is right here before they will ever be able to advance in the spirit world of light, when they leave this world.

I know what is in my heart. I know what I have to do here in order to minimize the effects of the Law. I know how to practice what I preach and what I believe in and whom I believe in. I am an ordained minister and it is my duty to remind you of what the mediums of yesterday have told us about what they learned and about what happened to them when they died – what they had to do in order to advance to the spirit world of light and beyond. I don’t really expect you to step up to the plate and hit a home run, but I do expect you to stop being a person who has forgotten how to be spiritual and/or Christian and think about how the Law of Cause and Effect is effecting you. Are you going to hit the ball that has been pitched to you? Or is it that your ballpark is just an allusion – just a dream?

New Ministers and Their Duties

The Church of Spiritual Illumination Ministry Course is an interesting course on the duties and expectations of a minister, not only at church services, but the life of a minister in general. However, it is difficult for a home study course to go into the depths that a number of courses offered by a university can give.

The course will wet your appetite to learn and study more of the true role of the church’s pastor, minister, administrator, or counselor for the spiritual well being of the church and its congregation.

I know that very few ministers, myself included, will become a counselor, or even administer a church as its pastor, but the course does give a few of the necessary tools that a minister will need in order to perform his/her job.
When a person becomes an ordained minister their whole outlook on life will change. The new minister must take on the mantle of being one of God's ministers, taking on the responsibility of helping those around them to find their spiritual path and to help them grow to their spiritual best in light of spiritual truth.

The Ministry course will show the new minister that the important things in life don’t stem from what they already know, but what they need to learn. Becoming a minister will force a person to step up to the challenge of helping others and take on the mantle of true leadership by accepting who they truly are. The new minister will often find that they have personal problems that can interfere with their new role as a minister. These things must be dealt with and put into their proper place (often not an easy thing to do).

Ministers cannot play favorites with people in the church or even with people they call their personal friends. They must learn that they have a responsibility to treat all people equally with love and respect. With that being said, a minister is only human and they do have their own way of looking at things and people and how they deal with them.

If a minister’s friend has a problem with another person, it might be advantageous for the minister to have a talk with their friend and try to help him/her work out their differences. It is not the job of the minister to take sides and interject his/her own prejudice into the situation, this can only make things worst.
The new ministers have to keep in mind that they are not only representing the Church, but God as well. This will challenge the new ministers to become their personal best, and then they can help others achieve their best by leading by example.

The Ministry Course talks about counseling a young couple who has asked the minister to conduct their marriage ceremony. As a minister it is often the duty of the minister to counsel the couple on what to expect of marriage, (marriage is a serious decision to make). The minister may even talk about the possibility of divorce and especially what can happen in the marriage after the children start to appear. And the minister may be able to give advice to the young couple on how to handle their inevitable disagreements, etc.

The minister may even be asked to conduct a funeral, how to counsel the surviving family member(s) and how to prepare to conduct the funeral.

As new ministers walks their path they must remember that they have a mission in life, and be prepared to administer that mission. The new ministers will never stop earning their title “Reverend” – for the day they stop acting as a minister is the day they should “turn in their collar”.

This is only a part of what the Ministry Course is all about.

Friends

Friends are people who believe in the same things you do, go to places you go to and enjoy the same kinds of hobbies.

Friends will be with you through thick or thin, the good and the bad. They’re there when you need them and always seem to know when you are in need of their comforting presents.

You can tell a friends anything and discuss things with them that you would never talk to anybody else about, not even you wife or husband or a co-worker. You know they know how to keep a secret.

You may have met your best friend when you were in grade school, at the ballpark or at work. Maybe your mother was best friends with your friend’s mother, or your father was best friends with your friend’s father.

People even meet their best friend in the most bizarre way, like at an accident or during a jury trial, on a trip to another country.

Friends keep in touch with each other even if they live hundreds or thousands of miles away.

My Grandfather had a childhood friend who moved from Pennsylvania to California when they were both very young. Thirty-five years later, they met again when my parents moved to California and my Grandparents went out there for a visit.

Best friends are like precious jewels that never tarnish or get lost in the back of a dresser drawer or sold to be lost forever.

I wonder whether you have contacted your friend for a while? I wonder if you don’t believe that that friend is really a friend anymore? I wonder if you believed that the person you called friend was really a friend to begin with? I wonder.

I can wonder all I want and it will make no difference whether the person I called friend is still my friend even if I haven’t seen or talked to him/her in a long time. Maybe it’s time for a reuniting with that person to give us a chance to become better friends. I wonder.

Spiritualists take personal responsibility for their daily actions very seriously and make every effort to make friends and keep those friends without judging them or their beliefs. The Law of Association when understood and distributed appropriately can establish true brotherhood/sisterhood, which is in direct relationship to our second principle “we believe in the brotherhood of man.”

Spiritualists know and understand the Law of Cause and Effect, which is related to the Law of Karma both, are always in action. By also being aware of the Law of Attraction we know that what we sow, we reap and will never get away with anything we do that is anything but good. Spiritualists take care to always give the other person the benefit of the doubt and strive to learn the fact of the matter before they make any kind of judgment. They try never to make judgments that will destroy a friendship.

Spiritualists understand the Golden Rule “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We know that the Law of Truth is closely linked to the conscience of humans, and encompasses the knowledge and understanding of right thinking, acting, and living. This law encourages us to search for greater awareness; as a result, we strive to know the truth of all things. It is a law of guidance, for it helps us tell right from wrong.

All of the above laws are directly related to our relationship to other people and especially with friends. We know that we have a responsibility to others and to Infinite Intelligence, the Source of all Creation..

Listening

Who speaks? It is I. And who are you that you should speak? I am one who is speaking, but hopefully not as sounding brass while making a good impression upon your mind.

Do you come in the name of God? or as another? I wonder. We talk and talk and talk. But does anyone listen to us? Again I wonder.

There is a time in the life of a person when they just wish/want someone, anyone to just listen to you for just a minute. It is a time when we need it the most – a time when our troubled hearts are full of need. We pray. We sing. We speak out to our God. We even talk to others, but is anyone really listening?

I have been thinking about this problem for some time and it is obvious to me that it is a problem for a large number of people. Some people listen to others because if they don’t, they are libel to loose their spouse, their jobs, or their supposed place in society.

Each one of us contributions to the growth of our parents, brothers, sisters and other family members and friends. We make contributions to those we work with, ride with on plains, buses or metros, and eat with at a restaurant or coffee shop.

We make contributions to their well being in that for only a moment we make them feel that they are truly appreciated and wanted and that their words are important. We listen to them; they listen to us, and maybe give us the satisfaction of knowing that we are being heard. How do you give to others? Do you give of your time and energy? Do you give them your ear for a moment? Or do you just make funny faces that say, “I am listening to you, but all that you are saying to me is totally meaningless.” You soon forget them knowing that that the person who spent so much time talking was wasting their time with you.

Who are you? Are you a friend, or foe? Is your life so wrapped up in you that you cannot be a friend, a good listener, a pal? I wonder if I’m one of those that I’m talking about in this paper. I wonder if others are trying to take advantage of me and try to make me into the person that they think that I should be so that they have something to complain about if I don’t comply with their dictates. I am an individual who has a life apart from others and I need you as I hope you need me. We need to listen to each other, call one another, take the time to really listen to one another and respond to others with love, and understanding. Maybe, just maybe, we will learn something we didn’t know before.

How can we live with other people in our lives? Can we? You decide. I know what I think about all of this.

I hope that you will think on these things and not think that it is only me, that I have the problem with, and that it has nothing to do with you. We are all involved in life on this planet called earth and we, as individuals are important and needed. I need you, and I hope you need me, if only to have you listen to me for a moment and for me to listen to you with love and understanding for a moment.

Where Do You Stand?

When Frances Banks (1844-1911) went to the Spirit side of life, she was able to express her experiences there through various mediums such as Helen Greaves. In Helen’s book, Testimony of Light (Published in 1969) talks about the “Shadow Lands. The Shadow Lands is where those who “thought that the world owed them a living, or people who complained and criticized and judged all the time.” People who were engaged in “dubious experiences in crime, drug taking, alcoholism, theft, deceit, and other negative activities” are all found.

Helen said that the Shadow Lands “seem to be a clearing house where unlawful and mischievous adjuncts of the old personalities are rejected, disregarded and finally resolved.” The Shadow Land seem to be the place, where some people go when they make their transition from the physical world, to make right the less than good decisions made in physical life, right the negative things that they did to people they wronged, or be reminded of things that they did in physical life that they had forgotten about, but is causing the person to beheld back from progressing to the Spirit World of light.

Because Frances Banks, Daniel Dunglas Home, Swedenborg, Andrew Jackson Davis, the writings of Sir Author Conan Doyle, and a number of others, gave us the above information through their mediumship we have a record of what the Spirit Worlds are like and those who are there.

As I look at the various articles that I have written and placed on my blog or shared with friends, I cannot help be reminded of the fact that a ministers job is to inform, uplift and encourage people through messages from spirit, the Bible, the Koran, writings of the Buddha, and other sacred books, to remind us that there is a better way to deal with things in lives without injuring to ourselves or other.

I have sat in various denominational churches listening to hundreds of sermons by ministers in the Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, Roman Catholic and other churches. All of the sermons used the Bible as a basis to remind the congregation that they should be living their life as Jesus lived his. Jesus lived a pure and loving life, never judging other, uplifting with his love. We, like Jesus, are encouraged to deal with friends and other people with compassion and love “doing unto others as we would have them do to us.” These are a few things that a minister tries to express through his/her sermons and take personal responsibility for our every action.

By knowing of the shadow lands and what they stand for we are better able to appreciate the messages of our ministers and the teachings of Jesus. By living a more Christ like life, we will are able to avoid the pitfalls of life and prepare ourselves for a new life in the Spirit World of light.

God Bless

Limbo Land

I have written about life and what it means to me and how my life may relate to others. I find that it doesn’t matter what I think, others have their own ideas and they don’t necessarily agree with mine. That’s Ok for we all have total freedom of choice. Freedom of choice reminded me of an article I read by Robert Egby.

It was an article that Robert had placed on the internet site spiritualist@yahoo.com about the after life place called “limbo’. I learned that it doesn’t matter whether a person lives a really loving life where they think more about others than themselves, or whether they are a total …… all will go to a spirit world that is conducive to their personality.

In the article, limbo is described as a grey lifeless place that is extremely depressing and lonely. It didn’t seem to matter that their were other living in the same limbo place, the person was alone with their “self”. It is a place where people (knowing it or not) who have, “starved their soul while living in the earth plain, and had fed only on the EMOTIONS and DESIRES of their personality”. However, not all is lost for people there. There are people from the higher spirit world who go into the limbo lands to try and convince them to take charge of their “wrong doings while in the earth” and do all that they can to correct them. Then they can move on to higher spirit plains where they can progress spiritually. To correct one’s wrongs, one has to recognize them and then change their whole outlook to become a loving and thoughtful person.

As I continued to read the article, I realized that it doesn’t matter what a person is like in their earth plain life, they will reap what they sow and get their just reward. So what does it matter whether you don’t treat me and display a total lack of respect, talk about me behind my back belittling me and making me out to be something I’m not. You haven’t taken responsibility for your actions here, so you will have to make amends on the other side of physical life. Far too many people engage in this kind of wrong action on a regular basis but truly believe that they are absolutely correct in those actions. But are they?

The law of cause and effect says that we must take personal responsibility for our action, emotions and thoughts while here in this physical world, even though it is never an easy job for us. We have to first recognize that we have a problem, and then search through our lives to learn about the source of the problem, and then take the right actions to correct the problem and thus ourselves. If the correct action means that we have to forgive someone, like our father or mother, brother or sister or a person we once called a friend, then we must do it. Waiting until we get on the other side, or conveniently forgetting about what we did, is no excuse to procrastinating. The sooner we take care of our problems here the better the possibility of keeping our friends. Some would say “it’s the Christian thing to do.”

I realize that most problem come about due to misunderstandings of some kind. This is most often due to pride, ego, or just not hearing the other person correctly while engaged in our own internal dialog that distracted us at the time so that we do not here the other person correctly. Or, not really understanding where the other “person is coming from”. It may have been a poor choice of words by the other person. It may have been our not asking for more information or saying that we understood this or that and you needed clarification, but didn’t ask for it. If you didn’t think to give them a chance to explain, then you are totally in the wrong and must make the appropriate corrective action.

What a life but a school of hard knocks for all of us to learn the ups and downs, the rights and wrongs of living on our spiritual path.

This article was written to all of us, especially me, to try and get you and me to think a little. Maybe we can save our friends and ourselves a lot of problems.

Real or Fantasy

It has been said that “life here is just an illusion”, and I often wonder exactly what is mean by that. As I thought about it, I was reminded of that old television program “Fantasy Island.” A place where visitors to a unique resort island were able to live and act out their fantasies - played out as desired.” I asked myself, are we just actors in a television program? Is life here on earth just an illusion?

It does seem that we are just actors in a play, Hollywood movie or on some fantasy island, called earth, where we interact with other people to learn the lessons of this life.

I remember one of the programs where a group of people were acting out their fantasy as Soldiers. Soldiers that were given the job by their commanders to rescuing several captives in an enemy camp. During the raid on the enemy camp, one of the soldiers was killed. After the captives were freed and the fantasy was completed, the people in the fantasy went to Mr Roarke, the director of Fantasy Island (played by Ricardo Montalban), asked him “why did that person die, we thought that this was just the acting out of our fantasy where no one gets hurt or dies?” Mr Roarke said to them, “It was his desire to die as a soldier while rescuing someone in captivity.” In reality, the man was dying and wanted to die as a soldier, not in a hospital. Life is like that. We act out our part with the hope that we will all come through life with out a scratch or die of natural causes from old age.

Some people make it seem that they are accomplishing their goals, really living their personal fantasy, and all is well with them. However, in reality they may be suffers from not being able to fulfill their fantasy. Suffering from mental illness/anguish, or suffering from some kind of physical illness that others don’t even know they have. Or maybe they have a terminal illness they just don’t talk about. They suffer in silence.

You have all seen the thousands of Television programs that portray people being killed in war enactments, by criminals or by an act-of-passion, or even by “supposed ordinary people”; or stories about the hero policeman who, each week, captures the criminal, and jails them for punishment, all in less than an hour. The moral of the story is, “if you break the law, you will be caught and punished no matter what or who you really are.

Life may be a fantasy for some, but it sure seems to be very real for others. Life is filled with every sort of experience. We “make or break our life” depending on how we look at it. Some people act out their fantasies on a daily basis, while others seem to get further and further into the depths of despair and suffering. What on earth can be done to change things? Can anything be done?

One of the things that Spiritualist’s teach is Natural Law. Natural Law works in every part of our life and we all have the opportunity to use our knowledge of those laws to change anything that comes our way in an instant. We merely need to know which laws we can apply that will help us make the appropriate life decisions. As true Spiritualist we study these laws and make every effort to abide by them. They are God’s Laws.

Christianity teaches that a strong belief in God and His son Jesus, accepting him into their hearts and confessing their sins to God is all that is necessary for the changes that are needed in one’s life. We teach that a strong belief in God, the source of all creation, is all that is needed. All choices in life are up to you and me, as long as we get the results that we want. The ultimate goal is to find happiness and a little joy in our personal fantasy world.

When We Meet Others

“Hello, my name is John, what’s your name?”

“Joe”.

“Nice to meet you Joe, how are you?”

“Fine”

“Good”.

How many times have you and I been introduced to some one and experienced the same kind of scenario that I just presented? I would say…about a thousand times, provably many more.

What happened when we were introduced to someone? It is said that we make a judgment within a few seconds of meeting someone else. Yes, a few seconds.

If I ask you if you had made a judgment about that person you just met, you would provably say no. It is a fact proven by countless surveys and studies by psychologist that we do indeed make judgments. It is in the way we were brought up. It is a defense mechanism that we all engage in all the time. When I look at a television program, I cannot help but to make a judgment as to whether or not I will like the program and even the actors.

If I meet a man or woman for a job interview, I am being judged by that person as to whether or not I have the qualification they’re looking for and if they believe that I will fit into the corporate structure of the company. I sit there doing the same to them. It is a fact of life.

One of the things that we are judged on more than anything else is our religious beliefs. It seems that it only takes a few minuets for person we have just met to start to talk about religion and inquire about our personal beliefs. “My beliefs are mine I say”. The other person, if a “born again Christian,” will further his/her inquiry even more not wanting to abandon the subject. How many times has that happened to you?

I would say that being judged by others is so natural that we just cannot help ourselves. That is one reason that I get a little upset when I talk to people. I want my idea and beliefs to be mine and not be judged for them. However, as you know, it happens all the time.

Is there anything that we can do about it? I don’t think so. Even if I myself try not to judge, I do. The Bible says “Math 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.” And if you are going to judge than as it says in John 7:24: “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." Something we all do. It becomes an almost impossible for anyone to live by these two verses of the Bible because our way of judging is really a defense mechanism that directs our actions towards others. This does not mean that we can at least try. We must.

The reason for the title of this article is because it seems that we are Christian when we want to be and non-Christians at all other times. Oh you say! Yes it is true none the less. We are Christians when it suits us, and non-Christian when it suites us as well. I know a man who always ends his prayers with “In the name of Jesus.” This would indicate to most Christians that here is a man who is a real Christian. Just because we use those words to end a prayers does not mean anything. We could as well end our prayer with in the name of “Bromo Shave.” It would have the same meaning to us because we have already judged that person as being a non-Christian; a person who just goes through the motions of a Christian.

Everything that we do has strings attached to them. Our friendships, our marriage, the work we do for others, the people we come into contact with. You say to me “didn’t you just say that we all judge others all the time?” Yes I did and that is why I say that we all have strings attached to everything we do in life. You and I do also. The above was just an example I used here, (real or factious, you decide).

Like you, I am tired of being judged by others and I have done everything that I can think of to make the changes in my life so that I judge in the proper way as described in the Bible, I hope that you will also.

Spirituality

In my never ending desire to define and experience true spirituality, I find that the Bible is one of the most profound books on the subject available. It provided guide lines that an individual can follow that, when fully understood, provides one with a life that is free from all negativity.

The Bible teaches in the book of John 13:34 “love one another as God loves you” and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you “(Math 7:1). Two ideas and verses within the Bible that provides a person with all they need to get along in this world. Yes, two verses that the Master Jesus lived by in his daily life and preached. In fact, the life of Jesus was a life filled with God’s love – totally.

As a minister, it is my duty to express what God has placed on my mind, to my congregation. To express in my counseling secessions with individuals who come to me for help. It is the divine within that stresses the right way of doing things.

When one follows that teaching of the Bible one goes from knowing about God to knowing God personally. From the very beginning, God never intended that man should be separate from Him. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and all there in – an expression of God’s love. It was only when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that they understood that it was possible to make choices based on two aspects of their new knowledge of right and wrong. Duality was not a part of God’s purpose for man, or of the Garden of Eden, but it came into existence. One may now ask, was it wrong for Adam and Eve to gain the knowledge of right from wrong? The answer lies in the hearts of man in general, not in God. When man eat of the fruit, God knew that man would have a strong tendency to choose wrong over choosing right. You might say, this is the reason God put Adam and Eve out of the Garden instead of just forgiving them and allow them to continue living there in the garden.

In my search for meaning to what man believes spirituality is, I have searched high and low and found that it is basically in the hearts of man and therefore undefinable. That is not to say that the word cannot be defined because Webster defines spirituality as: 1: “Concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church "lords temporal and spiritual"; "spiritual leaders"; "spiritual songs" 2: Concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul "a spiritual approach to life"; "spiritual fulfillment"; "spiritual values". We go on to look at the way in which the Wikipedia on line encyclopedia defines spirituality. “Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit, a concept closely tied to religious belief and faith, a transcendent reality, or one or more deities. Spiritual matters are thus those matters regarding humankind's ultimate nature and meaning, not only as material biological organisms, but as beings with a unique relationship to that which is perceived to be beyond the bodily senses, time and the material world. Spirituality also implies the mind-body dichotomy, which indicates a separation between the body and soul.” In another encyclopedia, it says “The term spirituality is defined as living the Christian life with a consciousness or sensitivity to religious values. Striving or aiming for perfection and making particular use of prayer are therefore very important considerations in many different Christian circles. However, it must be emphasized that spirituality assumes various forms in several Christian traditions, for instance, from the solitude of the Orthodox monks to the activism of the Pentecostals.”

In yet another encyclopedia it says “Spirituality is about making sense out of nonsense, shining light on the darkness that is around you. Spirituality is about improving ones self and being able to help others as well too. Growing and expanding yourself, thoughts, knowledge and wisdom.”

Ones definition of spirituality is individually defined and no one can say that they are right or wrong but that their definition is totally there’s.

We strive in our lives in such a way as to always do what is right, because it is the way our parents taught us and society expect us to act. But, that is not to say that we are not individuals who have earned the right to express ourselves in our own way. Our way, for us, is the only way. However, if you can give me a reason to modify my definition of life, I will listen and if I like what you have to say, I may adopt it for myself. This is free will working for our highest good.