Praise Fills Your Consciousness With God

"When God fills your consciousness, results naturally occur." Petra Weldes

Have you ever experienced a moment of grace? I believe it is the feeling that Wordsworth wrote about when he wrote Pippa's Song:

"THE year 's at the spring,
And day 's at the morn;
Morning 's at seven;
The hill-side 's dew-pearl'd;
The lark 's on the wing;
The snail 's on the thorn;
God 's in His heaven—
All 's right with the world!"

When you see the world through the eyes of Divine Love, you will see only the qualities of God -- Beauty, Truth, Love, Joy and Freedom. You have a feeling of well-being, a feeling of greater good unfolding. You can let go of needing to make something happen and simply make welcome the good that is already surrounding you.

When there seems to be something missing in your life, it is natural to wonder how to fix it. When we first learn that thoughts are things and that our beliefs become our experience, we attempt to change the negative thoughts to positive ones. This is not a bad practice but it does not get to the Power Source. It is like taking a candle into a darkened room which will be illuminated but if one flips the switch the room will be flooded with light.

It is the same with our consciousness. Positive, life-affirming thoughts are much better than fearful,hateful, depressive thoughts but to fill the whole being with light requires saying yes to the ideas that are God's thoughts. One way to multiply the God thoughts you have in a day is to purposefully keep a gratitude list. Rev. Bruce Fredenburg suggests that we make a list of 100 things each day for which we are grateful! all the while you are searching for things to be grateful for , you are not dwelling on the problems, issues or concerns that might have been part of your experience. What you put your attention on grows. then tomorrow you will have even more things to appreciate.

When you are filled with appreciation and praise, God fills your consciousness. Start right now. What 100 things are you grateful for today?

Layers of Truth in San Clemente

Christopher Uhl reminds us that "while gazing 'up' at a night sky, one in fact hangs off the planet and near the edge of a galaxy, vertiginous, suspended over the infinity of space...

Layers of Truth in San Clemente 

Contemplate: Become consciously aware of this open channel between the human and the Divine.  Can you tell where one starts and the other leaves off?

Living with Purpose in San Clemente

 Taking the time to search and examine.

Yesterday we had an amazing workshop with Rev. Michael Gott of the Houston Unity Center. I knew I was in the right place when Michael clarified that while seeking happiness, peace, or a new career path is all well and good but finding Purpose is really at the core of what we are here to discover.

We examined our desires, interests, gifts & talents, and values. And while I have journaled ad nauseum in privacy on these topics there is something quite different about sharing them outloud within a community. Having that compassionate, all accepting soul to bounce things off is truly empowering and challenging all at the same time. It's times like this when you experience the profound power of having a spiritual community to hold you up.

In four hours we traversed a lot of ground. There were various exercises to explore four main areas:

desires
interests
gifts & talents
values

The discipline for me comes in being absolutely genuine and self accepting in my responses. To trust and insure that my answers are unquestionably precise and absolutely devoid of self censorship and perceived judgement. Letting myself take the time to search and examine knowing that it is not self centered or self indulgent but rather the first step in giving my gifts to the world.

We start to reframe our life story. Sorrows point the way to our values. Patterns of fear and anger show us where great healing can take place. Obstacles become doors and blocks become stepping stones when we surrender to Spirit.

What a gift! Thank you Rev. Michael Gott.

Planting The Seeds Of Peace With Michael Gott

Today I enter higher realms and perspectives of my life. I transcend the circumstance and see only Peace.
Peace is planted every minute of every day in my mind.

MichaelGott.com

New Thought's Musical Minister Comes to San Clemente

Music is the quickest way to the heart, they say, and I believe it. Anthems, like Pharrell Williams' Happy, take over the collective consciousness because they remind us what's right and true in this life and just make us feel good.

This weekend one of New Thoughts' anthem singer/songwriters comes to the Center to open our hearts and minds with music and a message of finding true purpose.

Yes, the one and only Rev. Michael Gott, Unity's musical minister, will grace our stage for his final Southern California appearance for 2014. We are so blessed to have him! And YOU don't want to miss him!

On Sunday, he will offer the morning message and then lead a workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. titled "Living on Purpose."

From Rev. Michael:

Each of us comes fully equipped with a unique set of gifts, talents, desires and interests. How do we connect who we ARE with what we DO in the world? This workshop offers specific tools to put you in touch with your inner widsom and your own divine spark that will lead you to a new understanding of Jesus' statement ~ "Don't you know? You are the light of the world."

The workshop features tools for manifesting dreams into lived experiences; dynamic and inspiring music; and the opportunity to ask questions that will activate your personal vision.

Dr. Heather first heard Rev. Michael at Asilimar many years ago and has been asking him to visit our Center since then. Because Rev. Michael is the music director for his home church, Unity Houston, his travel schedule is carefully chosen each year. This is OUR weekend! Woohoo!

Join us on Sunday and open your heart through the ideas and music of Rev. Michael Gott!!

Here is his anthem Amazing Things. I dare you to not sing along...lol!

The One Creative Intelligence

It’s a Philosophy, a Teaching, and a Science

Many of us have questions about how we can live a full and wonderful life.  One of those ways is to affirm out Truth!   Each week at our Sunday service we repeat:

Declaration of Principles
I believe in God, the one Creative Intelligence operating through the Universe and operating throughout my entire being now and always.  I believe this perfect Creative Intelligence can be used by me and by every other person, to produce health, abundance and love, in mind,  body and total life experience.  I use it now, and I rejoice in it.  And so it is!

This Wednesday at the mid week service we will discuss how to use this ‘creative Intelligence’ in the creative process and how it operates.

The creative process starts with the Ideal, the Divine thought, so to speak.  It moves through us as intuition which becomes our idea.  This idea of something we chose to create, has a journey through imagination, inspiration, action, and creates our experience in the physical world.  After the demonstration of our intention or idea, we travel to reaction, feeling, cognition, knowledge, recognition, and finally WISDOM, which is truly the ultimate goal.

So what exactly is Science of Mind?

It’s a Philosophy, a Teaching, and a Science

• A philosophy, in that it explains the way the universe works and our place in it
• A teaching as it shows us how to regain our personal power
• A science because we are taught how to use the universal principles to demonstrate success in our daily lives.  This is called the creative process!

Science of Mind is based on principles (the creative process) that support our spiritual growth.

“There is a Power for good in the universe, greater than you are – and you can use it!”  
— Ernest Holmes

Everyone has ideas. But what where do they come from? And what ensures they keep coming? How do you sort the genius ideas from the useless ones? Why invest all this hope and energy into making things in the first place?  Creative thinkers across a variety of disciplines find common methods, habits, mindsets and neuroses that help bring breakthrough ideas into being. This is a thoughtful and intimate look at the creative process.

Blessings,
Judee A. Chapman,
Assistant Minister
CSLCV

It's A Small World On Earth Day

50 years ago today "It's A Small World" opened at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair and then moved here to Disneyland in Orange County California in 1966. The song was written by Richard & Robert Sherman in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis and it's metaphysical message has been earworming riders ever since. So remember on this Earth Day, with the shrinking of the world with our hyper connectivity,

"It's A Small World After All."

It's a world of laughter, a world of tears.

It's a world of hopes and a world of fears.

There's so much that we share,

That it's time we're aware

It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.

It's a small, small world.

There is just one moon and one golden sun.

And a smile means friendship to everyone.

Though the mountains divide,

And the oceans are wide

It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.

It's a small, small world.

There is so much that we share, it is time we are aware, "It's A Small World After All." And So It Is!

Planting the Seeds of Peace

Kids need gardens more than they need iPads.

Today's Joyous Living Journal states that "It's through simple awareness and subtle tweaks to behaviors that will make a difference, impacting all of us sharing this earth. When you don't know better, you can't act better."

I feel far more comfortable calling for complete revolution. I feel that we are just placating ourselves with these simple tweaks and aphorsims. I would change "raising awareness" to seeking truth.

My friend was sharing what she sees as our primary challenge. She describes it as a challenge of self discipline, not as self denial but one of "maintaining energetic integrity."

"Energetic Integrity" is when what you say, what you want to create and what you are doing are all in alignment. Our current path with our planet is certainly not one of "energetic integrity." We know this.

We are all one. We are all tapped into this collective consciousness which includes the Earth herself and we KNOW we are not taking care of her and therefore ourselves. We know we are making ourselves and our world sick.

Everyone knows this, on some deep level in their DNA, and it causes us to live in fear.

And how do you get rid of fear? You shine a bright light into the places you fear. 

Yes, we need to plant seeds of peace but first we need to rip up the soil and treat it with a good dose of truth and awareness. We need uncompromised loving truth with ourselves and uncompromised loving truth with others. Take a good look at where our power comes from, where our water comes from, where our food comes from.

We need to teach our kids about gardening. We need to teach our kids how we really treat the ocean. Our kids will be coming up with the next set of answers. We must seed their minds with the ambition and dreams to create better choices and a better life. We must seed their minds with uncompromised loving and complete truths.

When we are collectively truthful with what we have done and are currently doing to our planet we can collectively create answers which are in alignment with our desires and create a world which works for everyone.

What's behind that light switch?

How does water come out of that faucet? 

Where does it come from?

What is the story of my food?

We must be truth seekers.

And peace will be found with energetic integrity.

Frequencies of Consciousness Easter Sunday Service

Today I start on something I have been joyfully longing to do. I consciously ask Spirit, "What shall I do today?" and commit to doing it. I now move forward towards living my joy. It's that easy.

God please help me, or God and I are One.

The Love of God encompasses all of our life. 

The Centers of Spiritual Living, are based on teachings of Ernest Holmes, following lessons from the Science of Mind text.  One of the most powerful parts of this text is the teachings of the Spiritual Mind treatment, or Affirmative prayer.  This is a prayer with a process.  In a Spiritual Mind treatment, one is to become completely immersed in the Oneness of All Life.  Words and feelings align to transform thought from a place of separate to a union of Thought in the field of the Collective.  In this prayer, the spoken word is used as catalyst of remembrance, that in all life, the speaker of the prayer and God are One.  This is not a place where we beg God to change a situation. This is a place where we become One in God, to know the situation we are treating about is clearly revealed to us as being the Perfect path in our life.  This can be a very difficult concept to grasp.  For trusting that our life is on the most Perfect path, including this or that which looks to be "not good," is a place that can be hard to digest.  Also knowing we create our own reality can be a very difficult pill to swallow.  Because we know that God is Good, we come to the realization that everything is All Good.  It is All Good because It is All God.

I know right here in this moment, in this very breath of life, God Is. I know that God is everywhere Present, no where left out. 

I know that God and I are One. I know that God moves through me, speaks as me, Is my life. 

In this moment of life I know that (insert what treating for) God is right here. I know that whatever it may look like, the Love and Power of the Universe is unfolding in the most Perfect manner. Diving Right Action is taking place. Any feelings of fear, doubt, or worry can fall away and replaced with the Knowingness that this Life reveals Itself in the Goodness of God. 

I am so Grateful for Knowing this Truth. I am so Thankful for my life. I rest in the Gratitude, I bask in the Gratitude, I completly immerse my entire Being in the Gratitude of God. 

I release this Word in the Law of the Universe. I Let Go and I Let God. And So It Is. Amen.

Namaste

Please see Darin McClure's blog post for the breakdown of the 5 step prayer treatment
http://cslcv.blogspot.com/2012/05/prayer-treatment-5-steps.html

I Won't Give Up

Have you ever had a favorite song that you've listened to hundreds of times, literally hundreds, and then all of a sudden you hear it with new ears and see it in a whole new way??  That is what happened to me this morning...

I am a HUGE fan of Jason Mraz, have been since I first heard him my freshman year of college.  His 2012 album, LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD, came out the year I married my best friend and the most amazing man in my world.  We danced our first dance to Mraz's I'm Yours.  We were lucky enough to see him on his album tour and caught him in Barcelona, Spain on the last leg of our honeymoon.  It was a phenomenal show, the picture above was from that night.  This album has become one of my favorites because so much of it sings to the creative process, to Love and Law and how we interact with it.

The song I heard (again) this morning, released in January 2012, is called I Won't Give Up... maybe you've heard it?  It is definitely a love song, and I've always heard it from the perspective of a person singing to the person they love.

This morning, while watching the video below, I heard it completely differently...

Imagine singing these lyrics to all your brothers and your sisters.  All of humanity.  All of us... right here, right now... just as we are, and just as we are not.  Those that you love, and those that maybe you don't love so much, or not at all.  

Realizing that truly we are all one with the One, we all come from the One Creator of all Life... I know that Spirit, God, Divine Love is in us, as us, and through us.  I have faith.  

I won't give up on us.  

When I look into your eyes

It's like watching the night sky

Or a beautiful sunrise

There's so much they hold

And just like them old stars

I see that you've come so far

To be right where you are

How old is your soul?

Well, I won't give up on us

Even if the skies get rough

I'm giving you all my love

I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space

To do some navigating

I'll be here patiently waiting

To see what you find

'Cause even the stars they burn

Some even fall to the earth

We've got a lot to learn

God knows we're worth it

No, I won't give up

I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily

I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make

Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use

The tools and gifts we got, yeah, we got a lot at stake

And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend

For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn

We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in

I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not, and who I am

I won't give up on us

Even if the skies get rough

I'm giving you all my love

I'm still looking up, still looking up.

Well, I won't give up on us (no I'm not giving up)

God knows I'm tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)

We've got a lot to learn (we're alive, we are loved)

God knows we're worth it (and we're worth it)

I won't give up on us

Even if the skies get rough

I'm giving you all my love

I'm still looking up

(THANK YOU JASON MRAZ!!!)

True to Your Nature

What does it mean to be true to yourself? 
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Polonius gives his son, Laertes,  this beautiful advice:

 This above all: to thine ownself be true, 

And it must follow, as the night the day, 

Thou canst not then be false to any man."

A couple of weeks ago, I was almost home when I met a small skunk in my lane. I swerved to miss him and did. But he ran the same way as I swerved and he sprayed the whole underside of my car. He was being true to his nature. Unfortunately, there are not as many fixes for cars as there would be for pets or people in the same position. Immediately the next day, I went to the car wash and had my car's underside sprayed but it did not reduce the smell much. One of my neighbors suggested that I go to a garage where they have  a hoist and get them to power wash the underside. Toyota wasn't able to help me. The skunk was just being himself. I scared him and he did what skunks do. Now I will live with the consequences as best I can.

Unlike the skunk, when I am called to be true to my nature, it will never result in hurt or harm to another. My true nature, just like yours, is pure Love. 
Ernest Holmes defines love as:

"Love is the self-givingness of Spirit through the desire of Life to express Itself in terms of creation... Love is free from condemnation, even as it is free from fear. Love is a cosmic force whose sweep is irresistible."

When we take Polonius' advice to be true to ourselves, it really means to be true to our real nature, to show up as who we really are. 

This means when things happen unexpectedly, we are called to remember who we are. We are called to Love ourselves no matter what and to remember that everyone is an express of Life's divine urge for expression.

Last Sunday I had an opportunity to practice -- my microphone, which I wear on my underwear, stopped working. It actually had changed channels, probably when I was expressing love to someone through a hug. No one knew how to make it start working; all obvious ideas were tried -- new battery, check connections, etc. I was attempting to get back to the platform for the Jesus Christ Superstar presentation. During our opening song I was hoping to have it fixed but it wasn't so I used a hand held microphone for the first part of the presentation. I was hurried and appeared a little harried. Ironically, moments after all this angst, Karyn Allen sang Mary Magdalene's poignant song, "Everything's Alright."  And I heard myself saying words of truth, that we cannot manifest our good, unless we relax into the moment and allow it to happen. (Being up-tight is never one's true nature, even if it is familiar.) A replacement microphone was found and the performance went on as scheduled.

But someone lovingly reminded me that I was a better leader than this, that it makes  a difference how I handle every situation. Self-awareness is where everything starts. I can't change the past, but I can bring more awareness and love to this moment and the next. And so can you.

Affirmation: I choose love in all situations and in each and every moment.

Change Your Karma

Everyone is in their true place. 

The above title only makes sense when the term Karma is misunderstood to mean Fate. Something from which you cannot escape. For a long time I have observed that many people use certain terms such as the term Karma without a full understanding of what the word actually means. 

According to the late Alan Watts, when Hindus and Buddhists use the word Karma they are using it as meaning action, from the Sanskrit root meaning to do. Watts offers a meaning of Karma as being that “this arises” “that becomes.” He notes that due to certain seldom unexamined assumptions prevalent in “Western Thought.” Western interpretations take it as meaning a law of Cause and Effect or Cosmic retribution.

Watts notes that in a fuller explanation in Buddhist philosophy there is a concept of the interdependent origination of all the forms and phases of life. Thus, what you do and what is happening to you and to every other person or thing is inseparable.

In one form of viewing Karma it is seen as a chain, often equated to bondage. Simplistic interpretations see it as “Good” Karma and “Bad” which then equates to the idea that if you do good things then good things happen to you and if you do bad things then bad things happen to you.

Watts adds ."Now, you may say, 'I did not mean to do that.' One school of thought will explain events by saying, 'You did something in a former life, or at a former time, that is now having this consequence.' However, that is a very superficial understanding of karma. You do not need to believe in reincarnation to understand karma ... 

With one aspect you are doing what you call the environment and with the other aspect you are doing what you call the organism, this living body. Since you cannot possibly conceive of the existence of a living body with no environment, there is the clue that the two are basically one. As with the two poles of a magnet, north is quite different from south, and yet they are both part of one magnet. 

In precisely the same way, you are both what you do and what happens to you. You have a little game in which you play that you are not responsible for what happens to you, you are only responsible for what you do. (emphasis mine) … Basically it comes down to the fact that you are responsible for everything … 

The place in life where you are is where you have put yourself. Just as on the surface of the sphere every point may be regarded as the center of the surface, so every place may be regarded as the true place. 

Everyone is in their true place. 

In whatever language you say it, everybody is a manifestation of the divine, playing this game … Your not knowing it, if you do not know it, is part of the game … " ~Alan Watts...

This Wednesdays evening at 7:00 pm we will look at practical ways to make your life work better for you.

Rev. Bruce Fredenburg

Remembering Spiritual Truths in San Clemente

In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependency on initial conditions in which a small change at one place in a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. The name of the effect, coined by Edward Lorenz, is derived from the theoretical example of a hurricane's formation being contingent on whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped its wings several weeks earlier. ~ Wikipedia

I am always struck by how the topic for today from the Joyous Living Journal matches what is going thru my head before I get out of bed in the morning to write my blog post. "Remembering Spiritual Truth" is the title for today, and we are reminded that the most powerful spiritual practice is more than sitting on our meditation cushion in the morning and seeking the Presence of Spirit. The most powerful spiritual practice is taking Spirit with us throughout our day. Knowing that we are the Voice, The Hands of Spirit on Earth as the song says, in our every action and reaction. Like the butterfly who's wing beat can start a hurricane on the other side of the planet our interactions with those around us can show the power of our God Qualities as we personify them.  If we think about how we are living in this way, everything we say, everything we do becomes a prayer and matters.

Even the smallest act of kindness will reverberate across great distances and spans of time -- affecting lives unknown to the one who’s generous spirit, was the source of this echo of good. Because kindness is passed on and grows each time it’s passed until a simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless courage, years later, and far far away. Likewise, each small meanness, each expression of hatred, each act of evil... ~ Dean Koontz

Contemplation: What are some of your favorite spiritual principles and truths? and more importantly how will you personify them on this day? Because You Matter.

You Are The Wings Of Spirit On Earth

Affirmation: Spirit is all there is, in every situation, person or event, I remember a spiritual truth in any moment of concern, worry or doubt.

And So It Is! 

Three Questions for Healing

Stories of Hope and Healing

The other week I found this book on my mother-in-love’s bookshelf. I was a little burned out on the books I was reading and it really called to me. She had picked it up from the used bookshelf at the CSLCV's  bookstore.

The book is called “Coyote Medicine” by Andrew Weil, M.D. It relates the journey of a medical doctor traversing the path of both western medicine and primal spirituality, digging deep to uncover the truth about what brings health and what heals us.

I devoured the book in a weekend. I couldn’t get enough, in fact I am going to go back for a second round because there were so many ideas and stories that deserve serious contemplation.

One of my juicy tidbits that keeps revolving around in my head is this:

“Before a person can be healed, one medicine man told me years after medical school, he or she must answer three simple questions: “Who are you?” “Where did you come from?” and “Why are you here?” This California elder believed that anyone who could give clear answers to these three questions would be well.”

Who are you?

Where did you come from?

Why are you here?

Who are you?
Just how far down the rabbit hole do they expect us to go I wonder?
How do we discover and articulate the answer of who we are?
I don’t think this is one you come to a definitive answer but is important to seek the ever evolving and revealing the question brings.

Where did you come from?
This question always receives more than a little resistance from me as my ancestral heritage is unknown, but at 45 I do have a personal history that I can reveal to myself.

In our Essential Ernest class one of our assignments is to create a personal timeline. I am fully committed to this assignment and already themes are being revealed. Sometimes it’s happy and sometimes it’s a little painful but it’s an exercise I would highly recommend to anyone.

Why are you here?
We all have “Work” to do here. And I mean work with a capital W. Julie Pellegrino really nailed it with her post on Thursday. Please read her post What is Your Sacred Work?

Have fun contemplating your three questions.

Palm Sunday - Jesus Christ Superstar

Today I recognize my innocence with God... I seek to be within my heart and let go of the challenges of my physical world. My conversations with Spirit are the greatest prayers I pray.

Celebrating Palm Sunday with Jesus Christ Superstar

Celebrate Palm Sunday with Us

Palm Sunday service at the Center for Spiritual Living Capistrano Valley will feature music from the smash musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" along with a New Thought narration that draws insight and wisdom from the last week of Jesus' life, on Sunday, April 13, 10:30 a.m.

"There is so much we can learn from the events and actions of Holy Week," explains Rev. Heather Clark, senior minister for the Center. "For Jesus, that last week was filled with love, betrayal, compassion, cruelty, and injustice. The metaphysical insight and wisdom that we can draw from him, the disciples, and even his persecutors and apply to our lives is definitely a heart-opening experience."

For more than 10 years, the Center has offered this popular service to a traditionally standing-room-only crowd. Featured performers in this year's service include: Rev. Heather Clark as the narrator; Wade Wooldridge as Jesus; Rick Dale as Judas; Karyn Allen as Mary Magdalene; Clark Wilson as King Herod; Michael Garamoni as Pilate; and Hans Smith as Caiaphas. The performance also features live music from the Center's band under the direction of Diane King Vann. This year's annual performance promises to be a toe-tapping, heart-opening, and inspiring experience for all.

Children are welcome to join their families in the sanctuary for the family-friendly performance, however there will also be a special Palm Sunday activity for the youth. In the Youth Center, children will be invited to dress in robes and adorn themselves with flowers and reenact Jesus' heroic walk into Jerusalem to the cheering crowds. This is always a favorite service among the children and is not to be missed.

To experience the weekly service and message, please visit the Center on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. The service is preceded by a 15-minute guided meditation at 10 a.m. The Youth Center offers a safe and vibrant youth program guided and managed by Rev. Pattie Mercado, youth minister, and she, along with trained volunteers, provides age-appropriate lessons, inspiration, activities and connection for children, birth to 13 years old.

What is Your Sacred Work?

Finding your path to prosperity.

 My sister, Julie Pelligrino shared her insights about Prosperity Consciousness with us at the Parent Forum yesterday. (She is visiting from Gettysburg, PA, and was inspired to write this during her flight here.) Happy Reading!

We cannot experience Perfect Prosperity when we are living in a way which is out of alignment with our highest Self and our Soul purpose.

Work is a Sacred word. Job is not. When we begin to do our work (either at a job or outside a job) we will begin to see our prosperity manifest. The idea that there is a hidden belief or a wrong attitude creating our lack is the same as saying that all disease is caused by dis-ease.

It is true that stress, attitudes, and false beliefs manifest as illness, but it is also true that cancer can be a chosen part of the Soul's journey.Was Christ crucified? Was this due to a lack of union with the Divine on the part of his Spirit? Or as a demonstration of the lack of union for us?

We must be careful not to feel blame when we experience lack.

There is operating in some people a false belief, but for most, our lack is just a doorway, a sign on our path. If we were comfortably abundant, we would be comfortably numb. The purpose of incarnating in the physical form is to fully experience the Divine principles.

The Law of Compensation states that energy cannot by created or destroyed, but only transformed. What we put out comes back to us. If we put forth effort and think nothing is returning,  in truth, it is very likely we are putting forth effort in a state of lack. It we work to overcome lack, then it will only increase lack. Remember, what we focus expands. When we work to create Love, to give Love, to manifest Love, then Love, in all its abundant forms will be made manifest. The Law works both ways.

Our sacred work is to live the highest expression of ourselves; anything else brings lack, which is how lack acts as our Divine teacher.

"But what am I supposed to do?" we may ask.

Very few are so disconnected from Self and Spirit that they do not actually know the answer to that question. However, it is in the Knowing that we are called to express our Divinity that can be frightening... better to live in lack than express the highest. Knowing, as we do, that we challenge others to do the same.

All we need to do to know our work - our purpose - is to notice when we smile, 

which is when Life moves through us. 

We may need to go back to grammar school and recall the different feelings of cutting & pasting, simple addition, or a game of tether ball to find what made us smile. When we do, keep a smile journal.Those smiles are like lightening - they illuminate the darkness. Capture and record those moments.

Please open fully to the awareness that there are living, self-actualized saints among us, who have jobs as custodians and lunch ladies and CEOs. Those are their jobs, not their lives.

Our current system of trading time for money, and money for goods is shifting. We are beginning to open to the idea of our eternal, limitless divinity.

There is no time in God

There is no money in God

There is no stuff in God

Know this all that you need, or want, 

exists in the garden.

We return to the Garden when we align with our divinity.
We are created in the image of God, and we are limitless.

Say Yes to It All

As Palm Sunday rapidly approaches, I am internally pulled to our annual presentation of some of the music from Jesus Christ Superstar. I interpret the events of the Holy Week metaphysically. It is one of my favorite Sundays. Why? because the music is deep and evocative? Absolutely! The music touches something within us that relates both to the human condition and the Divine Presence.

One of my favorite songs is Gethsemane, Jesus prayer in the garden.He has just shared dinner with his friends.  He asks his disciples to stay with him while he prays but they fall asleep. Jesus knows what is about to happen and in this moving song, he prays to God to find another way for him to fulfill his destiny. It is easy to bring compassion to this man. Usually there is not a dry eye in the house following that song. The lyrics are:

"I only want to say, if there is a way.

I have changed.  I'm not as sure, as when I started.
Listen surely I've exceeded expectations 
Tried for three years, seems like thirty. 
Could you ask as much from any other man?"

Then I was inspired/ now I'm sad and tired

Take this cup away from me,  for I don't want to taste its poison,

Feel it burn me,

We may never have that life-ending experience looming over us, but almost everyone can relate to doing what needs to be done in times of need. I have often known that I should take  a certain direction, but because I didn't know how it would end,hesitated about taking action. Sometimes we hesitate to please others, sometimes to avoid danger or sometimes just to avoid change.

In her poem, The Invitation, Oriah Mountain Dreamer writes:

"It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray yourself. If you can be faithless, and therefore trustworthy."

Being true to myself means I am listening deeply to the Presence within and allowing that guidance to direct my course. Our authentic self knows only to stay on the right course, to go in the direction of the highest good. It is human to want support. When have you needed support emotionally and your friends or spouse couldn't be there for you? Perhaps they didn't understand your need. perhaps like the disciples, they just went to sleep. Going to sleep metaphysically means forgetting who you are; forgetting your spiritual dna. We forget who we are when we think we are not enough; when we think that somebody is against us. The Truth is that the entire Universe is always conspiring to obey our commands, to follow our wishes, which It knows as our beliefs.

Stay awake. Connect with the Presence. Connect with  friends. Of course, we have been given the gift of choice and free will. We get to set the direction of our dreams but the way to them may be filled with obstacles. Remember the nature of God as Law  is fulfilling our desires. Say yes to it all.

Come Share Your Experience of Healing

Healing is constant natural event

We know matter is energy, so the Energy Field contains both matter and energy. That energy is in constant motion of change. Thats why we call it The Law of Uncertainty.

On the other hand we also know that we are fundamentally spiritual expressions of Divine Spirit, Certainty Field. In the Energy Field of matter we are particles and waves.

We live in a field of consciousness. That field can activate our Energy Field or our Divine Spirit, Certainty Field. We are at choice as to which field governs our reality. In healing we get out of our Energy Field and focus on our Divine Spirit, Certainty Field of consciousness.

We attach our consciousness on loving the Divine Field of our selves. When we observe the Divines within our inclusive self and know that we are one with everything we can change the energy of physical consciousness into Divine Spiritual Consciousness.

"When you change the way you observe things, the things that you observe will change."

Come join us this Wednesday evening and share your experiences of healing.
Love, Rev. Geoff Layng

Northwest Open Space PhotoWalk Recap

“Sometimes I arrive just when God's ready to have someone click the shutter.”  ~ Ansel Adams

What is a PhotoWalk anyway?

A PhotoWalk is an event where a group of people show up with a camera in hand with the intention of capturing a moment, and learn a few things about photography along the way. For our last PhotoWalk we choose to explore the Northwest Open Space in San Juan Capistrano.

Click here to view all of our photos.  

& This time we put the "walk" in photowalk, pretty much wearing out the "littles" as +Juli Isola calls them. There are so many great things to capture this time of year, from mustard greens blooming their vibrant yellow flowers, water flowing thru the creek, to buzzards flying overhead and lizards and turtles scurrying underfoot. You could feel the valley coming alive in spring,

I would like to thank everyone who showed up and encourage you to grab your camera and come with us next time, we will be glad you did.

What is a photowalk anyway?  PhotoWalks are our way to be "the lens" of Spirit. And So It Is!

I Release and I Let Go

Release and Tend Your Garden Mindfully

Butterflies have a lot to teach us about change. My piano teacher used to tell me that butterflies were a sign of hope.

Metamorphosis is no mild or gentle thing. Those catepillars liquify into a goopy mess before they are recontructed into a butterfly.

We joined the Panhe celebration a couple weeks ago. There was a butterfly tent at the festival which thoroughly captured the girls' attention. They couldn't get enough of that butterfly tent. At the end of the day the kids were called to release the butterflies.

They gathered together and let their butterflies go. Letting go of her butterfly was a painful experience for Kate. Kate cried. She had named hers "Pumpkin" and did not want to leave her butterfly behind. She went to bed crying over Pumpkin, she woke up crying over Pumpkin. She still talks about Pumpkin.

Sometimes change means letting go of what's in our hand. Letting go of what we can see and feel to mindfully plant seeds of a greater good.

Yesterday we received a vial of milkweed seeds from our friend. We are going to tend to our garden and know that Pumpkin will come back to visit and bring lots of friends.

Our time with our butterfly came to an end
We had to let go
Now we're planting our milkweed seeds
Knowing more will come

Now What? Sunday Service In San Clemente

Today I embrace change knowing it's all part of God's process. Everyday I ask, "Now What?" and listen for the inner guidance of wisdom to an expanded version of myself.

What do I need to hear today?

Listening to the Light along our path?

Can we really allow Spirit to take over? Where are we right now in our world to allow Spirit to be in charge?

Each and every one of our lives are here to unfold. Sometimes we get stuck in a situation we feel we cannot get out of.  Instead of perseverating on the fact the situation is what it is, look for a clearing of the information.  Look everywhere until the answer is heard. The answer is waiting for us to hear it, it is waiting for us to transcend a space that no longer serves us. Let us get out of our own way, our small self that has such a large ego. Let us release to the fact that we can be vulnerable to Spirit.  Spirit can guide us into a space that is so much sweeter, so much deeper, we just have to open up our lives to that Knowingness. 

Affirmation:

In this moment I am seeking answers to questions, these questions are seeking to be answered.

Today I am seeking to hear what I need to hear. 

What's Your Divine Sign?

Signs are important in our day-to-day life. They direct our traffic, point us to the correct restroom and enable the disabled. These, of course, are not the signs I'm referring to. I'm here to write about Divine Signs.

As of this month, I have been working for myself as a programmer for about a year now. I have been blessed with enough work from a single corporate client; however, I'm at the end of the projects and starting to see little to no work in the future. What this means to me: I need to either a) Find another client or b) Find another job.

My wife Amy is an amazing woman. When I discussed this predicament with her she put it plainly, "I don't think you're happy working for yourself. Are you?" Smoke may have come out of my ears at that point -- I mean, for the last year, I believed this was what I wanted, I had gone out on my own and made something of myself. I was building my own business and proving to the world that I could be successful on my own. It took me a week or two (and a lot of meditation) to realize she was right.

After just under an hour in deep meditation I had this feeling of inspiration. I sat down at my computer and started job hunting. To be honest, I was not hopeful, my expertise is in a very old programming language known as Visual Basic. Furthermore, I had done this job hunting multiple times in the past years without any luck. In fact, I couldn't even find VB jobs at all. It took me about 20 minutes of searching before I ran across the absolutely perfect job title for my expertise, "VBA Developer (Excel)"

After clicking on the link and reading the job description I start laughing because it was too perfect. I showed Amy and she agreed, "This job was made for you." she said. The only issue was that the job was located in Michigan, but after discussing it, we both agreed that we would move for the right opportunity. Then I saw the Divine Sign that would change our lives forever ...

On the left-hand side of the job description was the recruiter's contact information. The job recruiter's name: STG. My name is Sean Thomas Greenroyd, the recruitment company IS my initials! My name is literally on this job! We took this as a Divine Sign and I revamped my resume and cover letter and sent it in as soon as I could. Two days later the recruiter called me, I had an excellent interview that Friday and the next Monday they offered me a larger salary than expected with full benefits. Needless to say, I accepted the position.

Sometimes the Truth is muffled because my mind is busy with distractions or fooling me into believing I'm limited. But when I opened to the idea of a new job, it made itself known and when I opened up to the idea of moving to Michigan, the way was already paved. Divinity pointed the way and my action made it possible.

God spoke to me and I answered the call. Will you answer yours?

Parenting the Divine

Last week I spent an entire day with my young adult son. I learned so much! I had a clue that my son is a wise man, a gentle soul, creative and driven by an inner push to reach his goals. I had an idea and yet, when I spend time with him I am amazed at who he is: his insight and wisdom when he is afraid, and his courage when he is passionate about something. I find myself awed by the many facets of my son. And then I remember. I remember the Truth about my son. He is made in the image and likeness of the Divine. He is an expression of the Infinite Potential that I call God. Of course he is today more than he was as a child and of course his interests have evolved and shifted over the years – even the weeks since I last spent time with him.  He, like the rest of us is continuing to evolve.

What kind of parent are you? Do you see the Divine in yourself as a parent and in your children sometimes, rarely, all the time?  Whether you are Permissive, authoritarian, certain, or a leaf in the wind your parenting style and experience probably changes with the situation and the child involved. I am the same parent with both of my kids – authentically me - and I use different parenting tools because my two kids are not the same person. Of course! They have unique personalities, they respond to pressure – both self imposed and inferred differently. They respond to my parenting differently. Man it would have been easier if they wanted the same, acted the same, and responded the same – but that’s not the way life works. Every child-parent relationship is unique. Each has their lessons for us and the opportunity for us, the parent, to know ourselves and our children better – and in knowing ourselves and them a little bit more completely, honestly, openly we are allowing the Divine to be known – by means of us.  

As a practice, we can make the effort to get to know another side, the divinity of our kids by remembering the truth about them, and ourselves, by looking with an expectation of seeing the divine, and with the humility of knowing it has been there all the time. Sometimes that is tough, even seems downright impossible! I know. I have been there. But wait; there is help for this work!!!  Each month at the Parent Forum we challenge our old views, beliefs and strategies. We hold them up to the light of Love, Truth and Reality within the loving support and wisdom of the group. The life of the parent is one who is constantly being challenged, praised, criticized and idealized. Find some peace and clarity in your own experience at the Parent Forum on April 9^th.

Beginner's Mind

"The mind that dies every day to the memories of yesterday, to all the joys and sorrows of the past -- such a mind is fresh, innocent, it has no age; and without that innocence, you will not find God."  J. Krishnmurti

Is your mind getting old? Is it showing wear and tear of holding on to anger, sorrow, disappointment or loneliness? Are you forgetful? Do you search for the right word more than occasionally?

In Perlmutter's book, Grain Brain, he writes that the brain, like every other cell in our body, regenerates itself! This was great news to me! What used to be believed by neurosurgeons is that once you lost any mental capacity it was gone for good. we were taught that  things like excess alcohol usage killed brain cells and once they were dead, they were gone! Isn't it great news, that brain cells can be regrown?

What great news! We could have newish brains, the instrument for our minds to use, can be restored.  Perlmutter's theory is that it is the foods that we are eating that is making us forgetful, and causing dementia, depression and other neurological disorders. We can choose to live a healthy life.

However if you eat right and live a healthy lifestyle and poison your mind with negativity, envy, anger, disappointment and loneliness, the results will still be an experience of an aging mind. As J. Krishnamurti points out, no matter what our age, if we cannot let go of the memories of yesterday, we will not find God. If we do not find God, our lives will be filled with despair, worry, confusion and our bodies, including our brains will suffer from that consciousness.

Isn't it time, to put that baggage away that you have been carrying around? It gets so heavy after awhile. Of course, you know that you are only harming yourself. The person that "done you wrong" is not suffering at all. You can't undo the past, but you can take the sting out if it. Let it go. See the perpetrator as a small child not knowing any better. If he or she could have done better in that moment, he/she would have.  Surrender it to God. let it go.

Choose to have a ageless, healthy mind in an ageless, healthy body. 

Thoughts On Death And Spirituality

To the Men & Women of the HMM-364 Purple Foxes
We Salute You

At 10;30 am every Sunday, We Light the Flames of Faith, a call to service. Where we recognize the many paths to Spirit, and of Service.

• We light the candle for the Shamanic Traditions, honoring the beliefs and practices of all indigenous peoples, The way of Primal Spirituality.

In today's excerpt from the Joyous Living Journal we are inspired to find our "Healing Chant" in indigenous peoples this was also called the "Death Chant". In the native american tradition this chant was discovered thru spirit quest, or passed down thru your relations, and sung in moments of adversity.

This year I have embraced my inner Cherokee, by fasting and then attending ceremony on Saturday evenings with my friend and Vietnam veteran +Gene Stone. This has been a very powerful experience and has brought a centeredness to my life that is hard to put in words. The chants we sing, the prayers that have been asked and answered have been profound and amazing. You should check out his blog from a Native American Viewpoint "We are All Part of the Earth" the way of Primal Spirituality.

Yesterday, I had another powerful experience when I went with one of my blogging students +Paul Gavin  to view the end of a long chapter in our nations history, covering a twelve ship "Heritage Flight" of the USMC HMM-364 World Famous Purple Foxes as they transition from flying the Phrog to the Osprey. This is the end of a 50 year history of service where these birds were very much the horse of years gone by. The Purple Foxes got our fighting men and women into and out of all kinds of sticky situations around the globe. And we remember the sacrifices they have made for our country, and the Marine motto of "Do The Right Thing, For The Right Reason."

When your time comes may your healing chant include that you did all the right things, for all the right reasons, a message I have heard time and time again in ceremony and in service.
Your heart will be your guide for this, And So It Is.