How to Use the Thing Itself

In our discussion on Sunday we were talking about the fourth chapter in The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes. The first of the Chapter is about understanding that the metaphysical principle is like any other scientific principle, it can be proved and must be to be used fully by the metaphysician. Ernest, in his work, strove to remove the mystery and uncertainty around understanding how the Universe works. In his most famous quote, "There is a Power in the Universe, and we can use it." Before we can use it, we must understand how it works. It always works the same for everyone. If this were not true, it would not be a principle, but just a nice idea. Page 53, "We should learn to control our thought processes and bring them into line with Reality. We should be able to look a discordant fact in the face and deny its reality, since we know its seeming reality is borrowed from illusion..." "While it is true that wrong conditions exist, they could not remain unless there were someone to experience them . Consequently, the experience must be in consciousness. Change the consciousness and the false condition will disappear." I gave the example of deciding to release the experience of sinus conditions. I withdrew my attention from that type of experience and when it tries to intrude, I simply deny it and ignore it. I give it no attention. It has now power of its own. Therefore, it simple dissipates into the nothingness it is. There is a beautiful meditation on page 56. There is so much to share and understand from this Chapter and in the others. I close with a quote from the last page of the Chapter. "A new light is coming into the world. We are on the borderland of a new experience. The veil between Spirit and matter is very thin. The invisible passes into visibility though our faith in it... Happy are we if we see these things which, from the foundation of the human race, have been longed for by all aspiring souls." Much love. Rev. Carolyn

We don't really know what is possible!

In November a story appeared in our newspaper about Jerry Beyl of New Albany, Indiana. Jerry is 88 years old and been in a wheelchair for ten years. In May of this year he had a small stroke. The lingering effects were weakness and loss of control in the right arm. He was sent to a rehab center where they hoped in a month, they could restore control and usage of the right arm. At the end of a week, his arm was better than they had expected and someone had the bright idea to see if they could get him on his feet. The first day they asked him to stand for one minute. He couldn't do it. But the next day they tried again and just kept going from there. By the end of his month in rehab, he walked out of the facility on his own. He shared he just wanted to walk hand and hand with his beloved wife, Agnes, and do some chores around the house and help her. Agnes is now dealing with a non-treatable breast cancer. Now my question was, "Who had the openness to even suggest an eighty-eight year old man, who had spent the last ten years in a wheel chair, could walk again?" Don't know but someone looked past what was precedent (what had gone on before) to see the possibility that is always nearer than our next breath. Spirit is not bound by precedent and neither are we. Oh if we could get that, there is no telling the places we would go. In thinking about what we know and the circumstances, I considered what in the consciousness of Jerry got him out of that wheel chair now. We know that outward expression is a result of thought/consciousness. I have no way of knowing and don't believe Jerry could tell us, but it makes sense to me that a deep desire in Jerry's heart was to help Agnes with what is happening for her now. The deep desires of our hearts are what Law/Spirit responds to. Could Jerry have said, "I think I need a small stroke so I can get out of this chair." I don't think so. But Spirit knows the how, our job is to choose the expression, the experience we want to have. I invite you in this moment to take a deep breath. As you release the breath think, "I release what I think I know is possible." As you breath in think, "I receive and recognize the deep desires of my heart." I feel how it feels. If we boil everything we desire down, the end result will be feelings of being loved, loving, belonging, being fulfilled, inspired, enthusiastic, abundant and safe. yummmmm that feels good. Warm and comfy hugs to each of you. Rev. Carolyn

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