Meditation & Knowing for Sue Pfaffinger

This is a meditation taken from 365 Days of Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes that Sue Pfaffinger found comforting as she faced a diagnosis of untreatable cancer. October 28 - I am an individualized center in the consciousness of God. I am an individualized activity in the Action of God. I am eternal, therefore, I do not have to wait for immortality. The resurrection of life is today living today as though I were an immortal being. I allow all thought of death, all fear of change to slip from me. I step out of the tomb of uncertainty and into the light of eternal day. The nighttime of my soul has passed and the eternal light of everlasting day dawns as the great Reality in my life. Joyfully I am resurrected into that which is beautiful, enduring and true. Silently I pass from less to more, from isolation into inclusion, from separation into oneness. Today, realizing that there is nothing in my past that can rise against me, nothing in my future that can menace the unfoldment of my experience. I declare that life will be an eternal adventure of greater and better experiences. I revel in the contemplation of the immeasurable future, the path of eternal progress, the everlastingness of my own being. I am renewed daily by that Divinity within me that has forever set the stamp of individualized Being on my mind. Sweet Sue, we bless you on your ever expanding adventure into greater experiences. Rev. Carolyn and LCSL

3rd in the series "The Untethered Soul"

To be able to answer yes to the question, "Do you want to be happy?", you must learn to detach or as Michael Singer describes it 'fall back.' When something happens or just in everyday life, we have the opportunity to practice falling back. Taking a mental step back from circumstances, people, our thoughts and be the observer we are. In order to truly experience the upward experience of oneness with the One, first we must detach. This is a skill, a habit, like every other that must be practiced and strengthened. It is like getting our bodies into shape, we must exercise the muscles. If we wait until the big things happen to try to detach, our chances are low. If we practice on the small things on a regular basis, then when we are engaged in the senses in a powerful way, we will have the muscle memory of stepping back and observing from the place of knowing the Truth of who we are. In traffic, we begin to fall back whenever we feel someone is cutting us off or speeding or being inconsiderate. I like to let people in when traffic is merging, but can be really engaged if they then do not wave a thank you. When I fall back I can see a basic belief that people should be appreciative of what I do and when they are not I get upset. When I fall back, I can see where my reaction is coming from, observe it but not let it determine how I feel about the situation or the fairness of my world. This has built an awareness and experience of the process. When someone close to me is in my opinion being inconsiderate, I now know that I can fall back and observe. This is not about being fully present in your life, it is about also knowing that you are the observer. Blessings on the journey, Rev. Carolyn

2nd in series on The Untethered Soul

Hello everyone, This week we have been talking about how we build in protection that ends up restricting/crippling us. In Michael Singer's book The Untethered Soul, he gave the metaphor of the thorn. Think about having a thorn in your body somewhere. It hurts when it is touched but otherwise we can ignore it. But, it is in a place that it gets touched often. So, we are careful where we might go that might have things that would reach out and touch it. We are careful what people we get around because they touch it, sometimes with just a word. If the wind blows too hard, it can hurt. We roll over on it in our sleep. It is so upsetting. So we construct a defense. We start by building up a small wall around it, but that doesn't fix it completely. So, we build a bigger defense Pretty soon, in protecting the thorn, we restrict our movements, our involvements, our very happiness in an effort to avoid pain. This thorn and our need to protect it takes over a large portion of our lives. Instead of living, we are protecting. When we have been hurt, unless we have dealt with it and released it, we spend lots of energy in trying to avoid that particular pain again. One example that comes to mind; if we ask for what we need, people won't like us anymore. The child who was told they were selfish and Mommy was angry when they asked for what they wanted and needed. So we avoid asking for what we need and end up unhappy, lonely and frustrated. We are going to talk about falling behind the thought to a place of observing. Simple yet very challenging concept. Have a great week. Rev. Carolyn

Which Self are we going to be true to?

Michael Singer in his book The Untethered Soul asks the question to which self will you be true? He invites us to look behind the constantly chattering voice that many of us think of as our true self and to ask who is it that is observing the voice? What is it that can question the voice, that can think as we are blowing off steam, "They are really out of control?" It is called by many names, soul, higher self, spirit, the never touched or harmed, etc. It is what we listen to when we meditate. We know it because it is so different from the chattering voice we normally hear. Why is that voice so reactive? Take a moment to close your eyes. When you open them do not label what you see, simply take it all in No dialogue. There is more input than we seem able to hold. So, the voice narrates and chooses what to focus on. Close your eyes and again open them normally and see what the voice picks out. It may focus on a particular person or object or the beauty around you. It just all depends and what gets focused on will give you an insight as to how your world is narrated and constructed by the voice. Take a moment to celebrate your 'narrator'. It is very important to your survival and it can be influenced by your making new choices, giving new input. So in our series, we are going to talk about and explore getting in touch with and increasing our awareness of our higher selves. "It's the commotion the mind makes about life that really causes our problems." Why does a teakettle whistle? To let off steam. Why does the mind focus on one thought and keep going over and over it? To let off energy. Think of a time when someone hurt your feelings. Your mind played it over and over and over again with narrative and what you should have said or done. It is processing the energy. When you realize this, you can step in and release the energy intentionally and move out of the loop of playing it over and over in your mind. You are not a slave to the 'voice.' It is all about informed choices. Have a great week! Rev. Carolyn

Four Power Spaces

As we talked about on Sunday, there are four Power Spaces that each of us does call upon and each of us can call upon more. We used Thomas Edison as an example of one life and some ways that he called upon and expressed these spaces. 1. Exploration - openness and commitment to exploring new possibilities. Thomas Edison asked the question, "Why?" all of his life. He was the kind of child that can drive adults to distraction when they realize how little they truly know about the things around them. He wanted to know why and how everything worked. He was forever experimenting and taking things apart and putting them back together so that they were better/more efficient than when he started. He has been called the most influential man of his century. He changed how we all lived, from phonographs to electricity in our homes. He once said, "Discontent is the first necessity of progress." Where are you discontent or are you so comfortable that in Tom's words, 'nothing is happening.' 2. Meaning - Knowing that there is value and purpose in your existence. A part of Tom's was that he wanted everything he did to serve others. He looked for what the world needed and then proceeded to invent it. When you think of the gift you would like to give the world, what is it? Not how you can do it, but what is it that makes your heart sing when you think about giving it? 3. Resource - "I know this world is ruled by infinite intelligence. Everything that surrounds us - everything that exists - proves that there are infinite laws behind it. There can be no denying this fact. It is mathematical in its precision." At the Centers for Spiritual Living we are dedicated to learning more about these 'infinite laws' and how to best express them in our lives. The basic Law we understand is that it is only One. What this means is that all the Infinite resources are ours for the accepting. 4. Identity - Who are you? The expression of the Whole. Our lives are a wonderful journey of awakening to the Truth of our being. The expression of the unique unfoldment of Spirit/Law that we are. These are very quick ideas around these profound ideas. I invite you to allow them to swim around in the edges of your mind and see where they lead. Joy in the journey, Rev. Carolyn

Two Stories of Life Supporting Creativity

The following two stories are examples of people living their creativity to create lives of their choosing. We are made to be creative. When we block that creativity, we diminish how we express and our enjoyment of life. There is a story about the young Stephen Spielberg and how he moved an obstacle in his life to being a life giving support. As a young man in Middle School he had a bully that liked to pick on him. He tried avoiding him and then one day he went up to him and said he was doing a home movie, did this kid want to be one of the actors? The bully responded with more bullying, but in a few days, he showed up at Stephen's and said tell me more. The bully became the hero in a movie about bullies in Nazi Germany. And, he became a life long friend to Stephen. Stephen had been creative in thinking of a new way of dealing with a situation that most of us would never have thought of. There was a Park Warden who was in charge of making sure that anyone who fished in a certain lake had a permit to do so. One day he saw a man with two buckets of fish. He asked to see his permit. The man with the buckets of fish said, "I don't need a permit, these are my pet fish." "Your what?" "My pet fish. I bring them out in the morning so they so out to play in the lake. Then they come back, jump in the bucket and I take them home." The Warden said, "that is impossible!" The man with the buckets of fish responded insisting that they were indeed his pet fish. So, the Warden finally said, "Show me." The man dumped the fish in the lake and then stood quietly. "Well, call the fish back!" "What fish?" Not only was the guy a fast thinker, creative in his response, but also now free to go. No evidence was available. How can you think a new thought this day? Rev. Carolyn

Five Supporting Steps to Power

In discussing Power vs. Force we explore five supporting steps to power or affirmative prayer. Power, is another name for Spirit. Power expressed clearly in our lives is the expression of the One. Force is when we work to manipulate or make something happen. This is true whether we are talking about ourselves, another person, a situation, etc. The five steps turn our attention to the One Power. The steps align us with who we truly are and Spirit. 1. Contemplate the One Life – Let in the Light. Every time we turn our attention to the Presence that is greater than we are, we are letting more Light and Presence in and as and through us. We are aligning ourselves with what cannot change, instead of focusing on what is in constant flux. 2. Stop fixating on problems and needs – Discipline. This is really tough. When something is right in front of us, even when we know it is only temporary and not truth, it is hard for us to take our attention off of it. I have learned that when I get a scratch in my throat, I can tell myself the story of, "Oh no, here comes a sinus infection or cold or whatever and start planning what medicine I am going to take." or "I know that I am the perfect health of Spirit and my sinuses are healthy now." When I finally got that seeing it is a problem, created the problem, I was able to change the story. Sinus events just don't happen to me. 3. Give into God – allow the infiltration of Love. Open yourself to all the things that remind you of Truth. Like a dry sponge soaks up moisture, soak up Spirit. 4. Affirm God’s Good for you. Your Divine Birthright. Study, read, contemplate the Truth that you are the creation of the One. One of my favorite affirmations is found in our brochure. It comes from the book by Ernest Holmes "Living the Science of Mind." - It goes something like this. - Good and more Good is mine. It flows to me, through me, surrounds me, supports me. Good and more Good is mine. Not going to be. Not if I do the 'right' things. Good and more Good is mine. 5. Celebrate and release. Trust that not by might but by the Spirit it is done. Smile a lot. Laugh a lot. And open to more reasons/opportunities to smile and laugh. Good and more good is yours. May you see it, feel it, and enjoy it! Rev. Carolyn