Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Forgiveness



We are often held prisoner by our own attitudes and we go on punishing our self unnecessarily. It may not be possible for us to change the circumstances in our life but we can indeed change the way we respond to them. The difficulty lies in our trying to change conditions when what is really necessary is a change in attitude. The conditions we meet were set in motion long before we had the chance to experience them. We did this in order to have the opportunity to meet our self in new and original ways.

We have been helped and hindered, lauded and maligned. We have been the object of affection and hatred, the victor and the victim. Throughout these experiences we have striven to hold on to those experiences we found pleasant and escape those we found disagreeable. Try as we would, we may have found we could not change the difficult experiences and endurance was the only solution. However, endurance alone may well leave us resentful, fearful and distrustful, causing us to set in motion a whole new set of experiences to meet in our future.

Resentfulness is disempowering, draining us of the vitality that comes from hope and joy. It is a prison of our own making and one we need not endure. When we are wronged, feeling resentful is simply punishing the victim. At such times we can deal with the problem or absorb it. Absorption of the perceived wrong will almost surely lead to resentment as will trying to overpower the event. But we are not defenseless and we need not be the victim. How then do we constructively deal the pain resulting from ill treatment?

Forgiveness is the magic potion that will make a medicine of the poison. It is the most transforming life changing response we can experience. Instead of dealing with the conditions that left us wounded, through forgiveness we transform our self from victim to victor. The conditions then are changed from stumbling blocks to become stepping stones upon which we climb ever higher. Forgiveness has less to do with others than it does to our self. It is we who are changed by it and we who are set free from the cycle of fear and resentment. At the same time we may well awaken something better in the very ones that wounded us.

Love seeks to love and never to get even. Forgiveness seeks to be kind, to be gentle and requires nothing in return. Forgiveness never requires reasons, sets conditions or expects the response of others. It is a single act of grace that pours out from us upon others. With forgiveness events are not driven off but transformed in to blessings. With forgiveness we absorb blessings not maltreatment. With forgiveness we light up the world around us so that others may see more clearly in the dimly lit world around them.

May God bless you and may His tender loving kindness fill you to overflowing.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

The Messengers Touch: The Visit





THE MESSENGERS TOUCH: THE VISIT

While walking from my friends and their celebration of my return I was approached by a messenger. He looked just like anyone else but when he began to speak I knew inwardly who he was. The messenger asked if I would like to tell others of my sojourn and I said I would. He told me he had access to the record of all activity in Home including all of my experiences in the anomaly. The messenger said if I wish he could bring anything to my awareness he found helpful. He asked if I wished to recall my experiences in the Anomaly, and I said I did.

In the Anomaly my motivation was to experience myself with an intensity that was not possible in Home. My motivation became my mission and it drove me ever onward. I am recreated in every thought and act, and as a result each one enables me to experience a newly created part of who I am. My dedication to my mission dominated my entire experience and everything else was guided by it. So I can more easily describe my experiences, I will refer to my newly  developing self as my experiential self and my permanent original self as my motivating self. My experiential self was layered upon my motivational self and quickly became unaware of this underlying individuality. A good illustration here might be my motivational self standing directly behind and facing experiential self, while this experiential self stood in front of with its back toward my motivational self and was unaware of its presence. My motivational self was always dominant it witnessed all of my activity and guided my experiential self in all things. My motivational self was far from simply an observer because it absorbed in great detail each and every experience digested by my experiential self. Although my experiential self was mostly unaware of this, every experience, all of my creative acts in the Anomaly were for the benefit of my permanent motivational self. When my experience in the Anomaly was finished I would step out and leave my experiential self behind. However, all of my experiences would be retained in my motivational self for as long as they were needed.

What a surprise it was when I learned of the dominance and permanence of my motivational self. My experiential self possessed all of the physical and mental senses that enabled me to interact with the Anomaly but my mind, my emotions and my life force or spirit was within my motivational self. My motivational self was the origin and ultimate benefactor of all I would experience in the Anomaly.

As I matured in the Anomaly, I became fixed upon my form. It took a tremendous amount of energy to keep my focus upon my newly developing senses that were my organs of perception. If I relaxed my grip on the matter within the Anomaly my ability to interact with it may have taken flight. Consequently, I would have found myself in the Anomaly without the ability to influence it. Each step of the way I tightened my hold by finding new and more creative ways to influence matter. The more I learned, through experience, of the laws that govern matter in the Anomaly, the better able I became to creatively manipulate it. As a consequence of such an intense focus I began to think of myself as matter.

As soon as I lost sight of my motivational self I became griped with fear. If I was matter, I concluded, and matter was so transitory a condition, I could at some point cease to exist. As the faith I had known in Home began to wane in my experiential self this fear began to develop a negative form of motivation. In this way faith was transformed into fear and I became possessive of everything in my life in the Anomaly. My motivational self was taken quite by surprise at such a turn, but there was little it could do except to find ever creative ways to awaken a sense of faith in me. There would then follow a life-long battle in the Anomaly between faith and fear that would make possible an immense growth in my individuality. For I learned I grew not from faith or fear but from the battle itself. Further, I learned I am faith, my permanent eternal self is faith and nothing can change that. In the Anomaly, I can create a condition where faith is hidden and I can use my resources to struggle for its restoration. Of great importance is that the heroism exercised in this battle between faith and fear offers the possibility of a new relationship with faith that would not be possible had I never left Home.

My motivational self was incredibly loyal. Never in the course of my experience in the Anomaly did it desert me or surrender to frustration. No matter what obstacles my experiential self placed in my path, my motivational self found a way to turn it in to an opportunity for individual growth. My experiential self could produce enough noise to drown out the promptings directed toward it but my motivational self was relentless. It demonstrated a patience and persistence that would ultimately assure it had its own way. There was nothing I could do that would demoralize or permanently defeat my motivational self.

At the very center of my motivational self resides my life force. It enlivens each and every experience I have and in this way they become a part of my individuality. My individuality is unique in all of creation and there will never be anyone else quite like me. This is who I am. All of my experiences are the ingredients or the component parts of my individuality and my life force is what gives them a permanent form. In the Anomaly, my experiential self developed a personality, a rudimentary form of consciousness which was the result of my newly acquired experiences acted upon by my individuality.  It was who this personality, this temporary self, with a limited consciousness had become. I assimilated my experiences in the Anomaly first by my experiential self to become my personality and my personality was then assimilated by my motivational self to add to my individuality. I did not enter the Anomaly simply to develop a personality but to use it to grow my individuality. So there I was in the Anomaly temporarily possessed of a personality for the benefit of my growing permanent individuality.

I have learned my motivational self, this individuality is me. In the Anomaly we called this my higher self or my mental self. Consequently, it is simply who I have become, it is my eternal self. It is the source and center of all of my experiences. I can go anywhere that is open for me and I will develop the organs of perception, those senses to interact with where I find myself. Those newly acquired senses are not who I am but they are temporary and allow me to interact with conditions wherever I happen to be. As an example, if I wished to reside under the sea for a time I would require equipment so I may temporarily adapt to my environment. I would still be the source and benefactor of all of my experiences but my newly acquired equipment would enable me to interact with life beneath the ocean. To further use this illustration, let us assume I was wearing a diving suit to explore life under the ocean. I would be aware that I was in the diving suit and it simply allowed me to function under water. However, if the diving suit had an elementary form of consciousness and did not know I was really inside, it would think it was me and it would suspect it was all that I was.

There is only one me and I can employ various means to experience myself. The tools I use in life may have a limited sense of consciousness but they neither sponsor, control, nor become the beneficiary of any of my experiences. As a result of my experience in to the Anomaly, I have discovered I am far more complex and incredibly grander than I was previously aware of.

In the Anomaly, like in Home we live in groups. Whereas we gain from each of our activities there are limits to how much any of us can experience in a single visit. Living in groups we can benefit from the experiences of others as well and although they do not add who we are, we can use their lessons in our daily activities. To help individuals living in groups to grow and interact harmoniously we have standards of behavior that are codified as laws. They are not the same as the patterns that guide daily living in Home but they are similarly fashioned to assist us in operating as a cohesive whole. Because each group is unique, laws vary from one to another depending on their individual make up. There are smaller groups within larger groups in the Anomaly resulting in layers of laws codifying their shared values.  Because of the tension between faith and fear in the Anomaly we begin to believe our laws should be universal. That means we begin to think all groups should embrace the same laws as our own unique grouping does. It is difficult from an Anomaly perspective to recognize that variety adds strength and different values can be helpful for the group around which they were formed. I have learned in the Anomaly that which may be helpful for one group need not be helpful for all groups.

Each group has its own unique experiences enabling it to perceive reality differently. I found in the Anomaly there is no one truth but only a portion of the whole within each group. This is our primary strength and yet our chief weakness. Misunderstanding this principle is the greatest single cause of conflict in the Anomaly. When we have only a limited perspective of what is true and it competes with the perspective of others we are in danger of concluding that one is correct and the other is not.

I found that learning is labored in the Anomaly. We learn from our own experiences as well as the experiences of others. Our experiences define who we are but the experiences of others can be used to guide our physical activities. Because we do not penetrate the consciousness of others as we do in Home, sharing our experiences with others is limited to our ability to communicate. As a consequence clarity in our communications is a real challenge in the Anomaly. Additionally in a dimension bound up in time and space we must go to where the information we require is available where we have no such requirements in Home. What we lack in ease of learning is more than compensated for in the joy of discovery and the intensity of the process in the Anomaly. Though learning is slow, labored, intense and invigorating in the Anomaly it is from the process and not the result that we grow.

There are many forms of learning in the Anomaly and laws to guide us along the way. There are physical laws, mental laws and spiritual laws. Those conditions that are physical are directly observable and as a result they can be measured. However, so many of us in the Anomaly ignore the importance, even to the point of denial, of mental and spiritual laws. We come to believe if we cannot measure them with our physical senses they do not exist. Yet we are growing in many areas and becoming more willing to observe the results of what we cannot see, hear, taste, smell or touch.

Some of the unseen laws are more difficult to accept than others. Chief among the unseen laws in the Anomaly is faith. Here faith is considered a belief while in Home it is like breathing. In home we open our creative center and life enters in. When, in the Anomaly, we open our hearts and minds to infinite life, when we align our self to the eternal in Home this is faith. It is not a merely believing but a doing an experiencing. In the anomaly faith is thought of as a believing but when acted upon, it opens us to all sorts of possibilities. When we act in faith the unseen forces pour out from the mental and spiritual, even from Home to fill our lives. We cannot see these forces in action but their presence is easily observable in the lives of those who live in faith in the Anomaly.

The law of attraction, another of the unseen laws, is the glue that binds together all life in the Anomaly. Like attracts like is an important expression of this law and it is meant to produce harmony in materiality. Although some of us in the Anomaly think opposites attract we are incorrect in this assessment. Opposites bound together give rise to discord, which will eventually give way to chaos. Our bodies, minds, families, and communities function at their optimum in harmony. On the other hand, discord eventually results in decline and deterioration wherever it exists. On every level in the Anomaly, joy attracts joy, kindness attracts kindness, mercy attracts mercy and courage attracts courage. Likewise, fear attracts fear; selfishness attracts selfishness, even as feelings of lack attract privation.

Cause and effect as the overriding law in the Anomaly spans the seen and unseen. Everything in the Anomaly, the Anomaly itself is the result of cause and effect. Simply, every effect has a cause and every cause has an effect. This is creation in the Anomaly at its core but it is amazing how many of us caught up in the stress of each day take no cognizance of this law. We can do nothing physically, mentally or spiritually in the Anomaly that will not cause a result.

Another unseen law I have experienced in the Anomaly is the law of expectancy. It is a combination of the law of attraction and the law of cause and effect. I have found what I expect, in patience will come about. This is true for my heart’s desire or my worst fears. Unlike the laws of Faith, those of attraction, and cause and effect, this law gets very little attention. However, it is as immutable as the other laws and I have found in patience it works perfectly.

A law that we all love in the Anomaly (although we scarcely believe it) is the law of abundance. Everything we need here is in unlimited supply and there is no shortage. Interestingly, this is a creative law because the more we use this law the more supply becomes available to us. The law of abundance could be accurately called the gift that keeps on giving. This law when combined with the law of expectancy can be the bridge across which flows unlimited supply of every kind.

I would like to tell you of another law I experienced but I must first repeat something I told you earlier. I have taken several trips in to the Anomaly. Each one was a continuation of an earlier visit and they have all been connected. My motivational self retains a memory of each experience, not in every detail but the important events. In this way I have the opportunity to relive an important experience but from a slightly different angle. As a result I can fully savor the experience before finally releasing it. The unseen law that governs this memory is the law of karma. It is what can be called a soul memory that enables us to meet our self in the Anomaly over and over until we have drained every ounce of benefit from an experience. Karma is not a punishment as some of us in the Anomaly believe, it is instead a blessing. Karma is cause and effect as it spans our repeated trips in to the Anomaly.

The unseen law of mercy is ever present in the Anomaly as it pours down from Home. In the Anomaly we know it as forgiveness and we are bathed in its beauty. Mercy is the root of compassion. The law of mercy as it unfolds in the Anomaly guarantees we will never experience more than we can use for good at any time. As a result of this law we never need to find our self overcome by those conditions that challenge us during any visit to the Anomaly. We love the law of mercy but all too often we do not extend it to others in the Anomaly as freely as it is extended to us.

Finally there is the law of grace as it penetrates the Anomaly as a combination of all the unseen laws imbued with indescribable love. I have seen how grace brings all of the unseen laws to fruition without the intervention of time and space. Grace is beauty, it is magic; it is poetry in motion made so by love’s transformative effect on the unseen laws in the Anomaly.

I call these unseen laws but I could very easily call them blessings. I have learned that everything that exists in the Anomaly is orderly and a reflection of what exists in a different form at Home. There is nothing in the Anomaly that does not exist in Home, and there is little in Home that does not exist in one form or another in the Anomaly. For I have found that the Anomaly in all of its detail is a direct reflection of Home.

Although I thought this was my only visit to the Anomaly, the messengers informed me I have made many. Each visit afforded me a different set of experiences to learn more about myself. There are good reasons why several visits through the Anomaly are necessary, and why I could not experience all that I sought in one single visit. To change my experience sufficiently required that I purge from my personality the memory of my former visit. As all of my experiences were permanently stored in my individuality it was helpful to begin each experience in the Anomaly fresh and new. I would then be able to develop senses, leanings, and gifts suitable for each particular visit. I am not speaking of talents here for they are the result of how I apply my senses, leanings and gifts. With fresh gifts I was once again armed for grand new experiences and I would not be held back by former fears and prejudices.

There is a limited amount of Anomaly time during which I can productively function in a single visit. I can bring enough of the life force from Home with me to sustain myself and in the Anomaly I have limited access to healing energies to enable me to hold matter together to serve my needs. Through my experiences this life force is depleted, which in the language of the Anomaly is known as ageing. When I cannot sufficiently resuscitate myself to where I can constructively continue my experience, I simply step out, to return again to the Anomaly if desired. My individuality knows I am eternal and there is no end to my experiences so there is no concern about moving carefully and deliberately. It is the experience that is everything. Neither the volume of what I can fit in to a single visit nor the swiftness with which I can complete my journey is of any consequence. In Home there are no such measurements as volume or velocity, these are strictly measurements of Anomaly construct.

The Messenger touched my upper lip with his finger, right beneath my nose, ever so gently and suddenly I relived with incredible clarity every single thing I experienced in the anomaly. Not only was it clearer to me now than it was then but I can remember each and every emotion I experienced. Just then the messenger vanished and I have not seen him since.