May 11

Science of Mind Magazine Daily Guide for 5/11/08

By Rev. Margaret Stortz

NONRECOGNITION

I thought we came here To surrender in Silence, To yield to Light and Happiness…

Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing

There is only Mind, in which we all “live and move and have our being.”

Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind, page 87

THERE is a treasured place in our affirmative prayer format that is entitled Recognition.  To all who engage in Science of Mind-style prayer/treatment, this valued step is our instruction to recognize that there is one divine presence in all, through all and over all.  The step immediately following, Identification/Unification, guides us to accept consciously our irrevocable unity with this presence.  These steps alone are the most important in our prayer work, for they form the basis of how we see ourselves in the world.  They invite the rational mind to make a powerful connection with God.

The other side of this life-affirming prayer practice is too dismal to contemplate, and that is nonrecognition, non-identification.  What would it be like to have no sense of the all-enveloping presence of God?  Would we not view ourselves as cosmic accidents with no ports of inner nurturance?

If we have no sense of our own divine selves, how can we possibly know others as anything but unworthy rivals for whatever substance we are hoping to scratch out?  These viewpoints, I fear, are what cause suicidal and murderous behaviors.  Obviously our option would be to fling wide the gates of God's healing love through prayer and meditation.

affirmation

God is my true life.  It cannot be otherwise.  God leads me; God trails me; God holds me in the arms of spiritual love.  Each daily awakening brings the immediacy of God's presence to me.

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365 Tao (by Deng Ming-Dao) # 131

Meaning

                    Lightning tears temple asunder.
                    Divine wrath, or natural disaster?

There was a seaside temple in India that was struck by lightning.  That minor storm was the vanguard to a full hurricane that eventually ravaged the entire countryside.  The old temple was split from its roof line to its foundations.  One entire end of the buidling was parted from its body like a severed head.  Was this karma?  Was this the punishment of the gods?  Or was it simply an old building and an unfortunate accident?

What you say shows your attitude about nature, reality, and whether you believe gods intervene in human affairs.  If you insist that there was some reason that lightning cleaved the temple, then you live in a world where uncertainty is the byproduct of some supreme being's emotional whims.  If, however, you accept this incident solely as a natural disaster, then you also accept random occurrences in life.  Such a viewpoint does not preclude any notion of the divine, of course.  It merely states that not everything in nature is administered by some heavenly bureaucracy.

It is a simple fact that lightning split the temple.  The meaning of this incident - if there is any - is determined by each person.  One person regards it as a disaster, another as a good thing, while a third views it dispassionately.  There is nothing inherent in the incident that dictates its meaning.  It is enough that we all recognize that it happened.

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May 11

365 Science of Mind… A year of Daily Wisdom
Ernest Holmes

There is only One Power and One Presence— God, the Good, all powerful and ever present. I am an individualized part of this Universal Presence and one with this Universal Power.

I am a perfect expression of Perfect Life now, and everything necessary to the fullness of that expression comes to me. Today I definitely claim as my inheritance Life, Love, Peace, Joy, Power, and an abundance of all Good. Running through me is the silent power of spiritual Wisdom harmoniously directing my thoughts and actions.

I am surrounded by an atmosphere of Love and I am guided and governed by the impulse of Love. This Love casts out all fear, for fear cannot abide in the same household as Love. I fill my consciousness with a sense of the Love of God, until my whole being is flooded with it. It blesses me, heals me,guides me, and sustains me forever.

The Life of God is my life, self-existent and immortal, The Truth of God is my Truth, Unconditioned and Eternal. The Love of God is my Love, complete and perfect now.

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Thank you Gail for posting this. 

Traveling Alchemist/Su, one of our moderators, used to do this source most of the time but is currently traveling and so, I have been doing theTao source first, and if I have time, this one.  You are welcome to continue to post this daily; if you have the time and would like to contribute it.

Regardless, I appreciate that you posted it today.

Deb 

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Deb,

Isn’t this just the thing you mentioned in your post the other day?
I was BEing in the Flow :-)… but when I read you all’s post… I Had to do this :-)
I had just read it and went back upstairs get my book to copy it for this post…
Divine Spirit Spoke :-)

Glad to have picked up the slack so to speak….

GG

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Deb, very good reminder. And what we choose to think can raise or lower our vibration. I was planning to blog on that today [somehow have blogged a lot today!]– on how each moment, we make a choice to lower or raise our vibration and thus, that of those around  us [which actually may go the opposite direction if we're not empathic]…


My meditation-healing mentor showed me the truth of this, when she would always show the other way of looking at things:

Me: “My son does not eat well.”
She: “Wonderful!He knows he can get energy from every cell in his body!”

I:”Oh, so we can eat these sinful chocolate desserts after meditation”!
She: All food comes from the highest source. We need to accept it in that light.

I: “I have a heavy cold and can't come for meditation.”
She:”Ah, you're clearing! Your body is telling you, you need to rest. You can connect to us even if you can't come here.”


So it's true; an incident is what it is; we can choose to take it as an opportunity to seek the hidden meaning, the obvious meaning, the inner truth ..or to raise our vibration.

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Science of Mind Daily Guide for 5/11/09
By Rev. Jesse Jennings

SIMPLE GIFTS

“I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship.”
Louisa May Alcott

“…a flowering of the Divine in sunshine, in shade, in rain and in clouds.”
The Science of Mind, page 258

LAST September a big hurricane called Ike came through our neighborhood and brought a lot of change with it.  Parts of our state don't look the same as they did, and won't return to what they were, but will become something else that we can affirm will be, and work toward being, better than before.  Our immediate area was battered about, and a lot of trees and other vertical objects came down, but for many people the most intense aftermath was no electricity for a week, or two, or three.

Bearing in mind that we live where really cool weather doesn't typically arrive till about Halloween, no power meant throwing open all the windows.  Some folks had generators, but most didn't and sweated it out while cooking the old-fashioned way, hand-washing laundry, and so on.  An element of this that everyone quickly grasped was that with no electricity it was silent and dark, while a tangible sense of community materialized in the shared experience had with one's neighbors.  We played board games by candlelight instead of watching TV, talked instead of reading e-mail, shared food with others we barely knew, and consequently got to know them.  In a way it was a return to a yesteryear of front-porch hospitality and basic pleasures—inconvenient at times, but an unforeseen opportunity to look for the good, praise it, and then make some choices and changes for keeping connected to the sweet and simple things once the business of life resumed.

Affirmation
Today I am open to remembering ways of living that make me smile.  There is plenty of time for me to slow down and relish the beauty and kindness in each moment and to meet every responsibility.

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Daily Word — Monday, May 11, 2009
Open Spaces
I am prepared for new experiences.

As I reflect upon the flow of good, constant in my life, I picture streams of water rushing into a sand castle moat. The trench fills quickly as liquid curls past turrets, beneath bridges–in, around, and under.

Much like this flow of water, wherever I have room–in drawers, schedules, living areas–objects or projects can collect and fill space. Knowing this, I keep my spaces open to make room for the flow of God's good that is always available to me. I de-clutter areas at work and home, within vehicles and lockers.

As I prepare for each new experience, my mind is open to insight and my heart, to understanding. I am blessed in every facet of life. Limitless substance is my heritage. I release and clear the way for blessings of energy, time, and substance.

“Thank You, God!”

“Now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”–Genesis 26:2

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A Year With Rumi by Coleman Barks

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Constant conversations. I love this. It's really how I regard my life these days, as constant conversations with who/what I come in contact with. Listening, sitting (being) with what shows up, and acting out of that. As when:

The tambourine begs, Touch my skin, so I can be myself.

Or when a dandelion invites me to set aside the veil of illusion that had me labeling it as a pest or weed, so I can see it for what it really is.

And I'm reminded of several recent gaia q&r probes: yesterday's relationships as mirror one, and the one about seeing the universe as a living thing.

This is why I'm drawn again and again to Rumi's words: he sees life everywhere, in everything. More than that, he interacts intimately with that aliveness, whether it is to learn or teach, to reflect, or simply to open up a conversation…