CHRISTMAS 2016

At this time of year we celebrate the life of He who is the embodiment of Tender Loving Kindness, our precious Savior. He lived a life of perfection and forged a path for each of us to follow in His foot-steps. If we would walk this path we must try to understand what it is, to reconcile His divinity with His humanity. For, to tread in His divine foot-steps we must walk in His shoes as a human being. 

Chief among His human attributes was His limitless compassion for His brothers and sisters. He became the savior of mankind because His overwhelming compassion would allow nothing less.  He felt more than the pains of His brothers and sisters; He stepped in to their shadow and felt their darkness, their sense of separation from God. And, He entered the darkness as deep and for as long as it would take to restore the light of Loving Kindness for them. Our Prince demonstrated the path to perfection is in unbridled compassion for those in our life and giving all we have to light their way.

Unless we arouse compassion in our daily affairs and do what is necessary to keep it awake hour by hour, day by day we will lack the motivation necessary to make a meaningful difference to those with whom we share this world. Our own shadow is long and dark and in the absence of compassion it is cast upon all who stand before us. 

Our brothers and sisters stand in the light before us beset by the darkness of their own shadow. Through our compassion, our sacrifice we may step aside and let the light of Tenderness shine through and light up their life. By acts of gentleness, kindness and patience we may restore the illumination in the world around them. Would we be channels of blessings to those in our care we must bless their life with all that is available to us to do so, not just once or twice but without end. Our Lord demonstrated that to be lights to others our compassion for our fellow souls must be both continual and endless. 

Our life is enriched forever because our Lord walked the earth as human and divine. He stepped aside so His desires were for the lives of others so the light of Infinite Loving Kindness would light the way for them. In this light whom so-ever he touched was healed every bit. 

Let us follow the pattern set by He who embodied the Father, to feel compassion for those who suffer and without judgment, without condemnation, be the source of limitless mercy in their life.

Oneness

When we began this journey in to materiality we really did not go anywhere. We turned our back to the infinite oneness of which are a part and created the possibility (even if it was only one of perspective) of being separate. Thus we focused our attention away from where we were but we never really left our state of oneness. In this we could experience our self as a single individual but it was only our attention that became single. This was certainly not our beginning but it was the beginning of our concept of separateness. 

We have always been, we are and will always be an intimate part of creation. It does not exist apart from us but interpenetrates us completely, body, mind and soul. Because of our focus we have come to think of divine creation as outside of us and hidden from our view. In our thoughts we form the concept that the highest form of holiness is to stand face to face with our loving Lord and His ministers of grace. We may use terms like being watched over, which although comforting, further reveals our sense of separateness. We cannot stand face to face or be watched over by what already permeates us and this is an important distinction. 

As a result of such incomprehensible holiness completely penetrating us on every level we are neither isolated nor vulnerable.  Yet we fear and as a result we suffer. If we could accept a fraction of a fraction of the concept of our oneness fear would evaporate and find no place in our life to reside. For it is in the embrace of our oneness with the divine fear is dissolved and not by our experiencing mortal combat with those things that make us afraid. 

Many of us have been taught to meet those things that threaten us, to do combat with and defeat them. Yet when we begin to war with our self the resulting conflict can make life more difficult. If instead we opened the windows in our life to those gentle breezes of loving kindness, the darkness of separation would be made light and the bitterness of fear transformed into the sweetness of faith.

We are in the arms of Infinite Loving Kindness and His tenderness flows through us. All of the goodness in creation suffuses us every moment while His angels and ministers of grace reside within us.  Given this, how can we possibly feel isolated or vulnerable? Considering the holiness of which we are comprised what have we to fear? 

Let us remind our self of this every moment of every day and live as holy treasures made in the image and likeness of our Lord. Then we will find our self body mind and soul projections of that indescribable holiness we call God.

One Step At A Time

Among those sayings handed down to us through the generations is “What we can break we can fix.” We may consider this is much more difficult to accomplish than to say but it really isn’t. There is difficulty only in maintaining the patience and persistence to take the small steps necessary to accomplish our goal. 

Whatever our condition, whatever our ills, we probably did not get there in one single act. We took many steps along the way to get to where we are and the road back is likewise traveled one step at a time. In our impatience we often try to make long leaps that usually result in failure.

We are told the longest journey begins with one step so if we wish to begin, where do we begin? The first step along the road to change is attitude, one that is clear, concise and unambiguous. An attitude so simple and all-consuming it will see us through our entire journey; an attitude that would describe itself as “yes I can.” If every step along our way is energized by this attitude we stand a much greater chance of success.

It is self-defeating to say yes I can and then take steps so large that they make the journey perilous. A positive attitude is only helpful when our actions are both reasonable and proportionate. Each step will get us closer to our goal and our success is experienced in the journey itself and not in its completion. 

If we are reasonable we will find one step at a time is not too difficult. With this in mind we can experience success after success, step by step. However if we truly wish to change, even the most dedicated among us will be challenged by that part of our self that got us to where we are. Once we are committed we must be convinced that small steps are of inestimable value. Where we can no longer resist our commitment to change we can still combat it by taking long leaps that may eventually doom our mission to failure. 

Whether the road we travel back to wholeness is paved with stones of mental activity, physical activity or both it would be helpful to plan our journey like we would any long trip. Our plans can be specific for the short range and general for the long one but one designed to take us to our destination. Again they should not be overly ambitious to become self-defeating. Then in the execution of our plan … one step at a time … we should be filled with the joy of success … one step at a time.

Stress

Stress is the greatest single cause of illness inhibiting our immune system and taxing all of our organs. Continued stress will wreck our body and poison our mind. Many of us have become so accustomed to stress that we have formed an addiction to it. At such times we come to believe if we are not overwhelmed by anxiety we are not productive. Also we may come to believe our deteriorated physical condition is the result of outside forces. 

For many of us stress is linked directly to the uncertainty of the outcome of whatever it is in which we have invested our emotions. We may be concerned with the quality, quantity, permanence, how it will be received, how we will be perceived and a variety of other issues. No matter what concerns us it is all tied to our fixation on the results. 

Fear of the outcome can be avoided when we are not wedded to the results. This may sound counter intuitive but it is more the natural order of things than is our fixation on the result. Ideals give us a direction in which to live and our goals are a means of incrementally measuring our progress. However when the uncertainty of reaching the goal threatens to suffocate the activity itself we have moved our attention from the process to the result.  It is true that we must have the material means of expressing our ideals and goals supply this. But it is in the activity itself and not in the result that we soar like an eagle. 

When we move our attention from the process to the outcome we are confusing the order of things. If the activity lacks integrity, if a dedication to excellence is absent from our efforts then the result is empty and fear will rise up to fill the void. Where we lose our self in the joy of doing, of investing our heart, our mind and our skills in our activities then the outcome is assured. 

Let us each combat stress by giving it no place to take hold in our life. Where the devotion to the process is present there will be no fear of the result. At those times we will have rid our self of stress and our life will be filled with the joy of just doing. Habits are formed over time and have a strong hold upon us. But they can be changed - one effort at a time; patiently and persistently. Our life is what we have made it - one step at a time and what it will become - one step at a time. Patience and persistence are the keys to the kingdom where we may rid our self of the debilitating weight of stress - one act at a time.  

In The Beginning

To describe what may have been a beginning is impossible without using words and illustrations bound up in time and space. Although what is being illustrated here had no sequence and no separation between events it will be described as if it did because of the limits of both our language and imagination.

We have always existed and we always will but we have changed in form. There was a beginning of sorts when we were endowed with the possibility of selfhood. This selfhood being the essence of will which enables us to become self-conscious, self-replicating and conscious of all creation. We existed an eternity before receiving the essence of will but only as part of undifferentiated soul spirit.

To get a clearer perspective of this beginning let us offer this illustration. Picture a pond with no beginning and no end, one that goes on forever. In this picture the top of the water is absolutely calm and appears smooth and motionless. Now suddenly a seed, the seed of the essence of will is dropped in the water and its weight causes a disturbance resulting in a ripple. Where there was a smooth surface before there appears a circle of water around a seed moving outward in all directions. As this ripple, this tiny wave travels outward from the seed let us stop and freeze the image right there for now. The first happening, the seed dropping in the pond created the possibility of separateness while the second condition, the ripple effect gave it a place to happen. There really was not a separation but the appearance of one. Now in the stillness of this scene the essence of will begins to stir to life. Here through eons we become aware that we are and our relationship with all creation. As we act upon creation the color and the character of the water within the circle changes from that in the rest of the pond. Here we can replicate our self in an infinite variety of ways and through experience become more aware of our uniqueness. Yet at the same time we remain part of the whole of the pond with only the image of separateness provided by the ripple wave.

The ripple will eventually travel outward until it dissipates and in this way our self-consciousness is spread out across the face of eternity.