Now Is the Time

As I was sitting contemplating how grateful I am, the first words of this poem by Rabindranath Tagore came to me.Tagore wrote it in 1900 before India's Independence. He originally wrote it in his native tongue. It was published in English in 1912.

"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high 

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments 

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms from the depth of truth

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."

I envision living free from fear, fully confident about my right to be here, knowing that I am making  a difference because I live in the wholeness and unity of the One Life.

When I remember who I am, my mind is free of fear.

When I remember to practice what I know, I am vitally alive.

And when I forget that we are all one, that Divine Life is within each one of us, I am tempted to live as if the effects in my life were causes. When I do that, I react. I do not consciously choose what I want.

As a minister of the Science of Mind, I want to minister to all beings -- not just one group or another.

Yet as a human being, I have opinions and concerns. Some of those opinions may upset some of my congregation. I have been blessed to live here in the United States since 1993. I prayed wholeheartedly for Peace for months after the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on 9-11 and for the first several years when we started fighting. I have kept my opinions to myself for the most part. (I did support marriage equality and some people didn't like it. They left our Center.)

Now I am concerned about our climate change. How shocked I was to find out that here in the United States, Climate Change is a political issue! In my heart it is a scientific fact and a global concern.

Although I applied for citizenship last May, I am not yet a citizen. As a non-citizen, I felt I should not speak out about my concerns, but when I saw that Climate Change disappeared from the Government Website, I was deeply troubled. 

For those of you who are students of metaphysics, you know that doing anything from a place of concern or anxiety, is going to produce exactly what you are anxious about. It will have the opposite effect from what you want. So what is the spiritual solution?

First, the master teacher Jesus said, "Let not your hearts be troubled." So first become aware of the peace that passes understanding that is the nature of Divine Mind and It is everywhere. In that peaceful place of unity, envision what you do want. I see people caring for their environment and using resources wisely. I remember the idea of thinking globally and acting locally. 

So first I meditate and pray. First, I remember that the nature of life is unity and that I live in a perfect universe. I remember that Divine Intelligence is everywhere present, even when I can't see it.

Then I take the action that I can take. I begin locally with myself and my home environment. I unplug appliances. I turn off lights. I lower the temperature. I reduce the number of things I buy that are packaged. And I pray!

In the 70's and 80's, John Denver wrote music that spoke to my heart. He performed this one in Russia on his world tour. I think it is just as relevant today as it was when the album was released in 1983.

It's about time...and the time is now!

God Can't Crumble and Die and Neither Can I

"Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world. What you see reflects your thinking. And your thinking but reflects your choice of what you want to see." A Course in Miracles

This is a powerful spiritual practice and one we all could benefit from incorporating into our lives.

Let's take a look at the current events in the Crimea. How could we change our minds about the Russian occupation of the Crimea? What if the people of the Crimea wanted to be Russian as they once were? What if they voted overwhelmingly to unite with Russia? What if over half of the people in Crimea considered themselves Russian? What if the highest idea of peace is to know human rights for everyone, all cultures, all beings?  What if we KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that the highest and best was always evolving? 

Ernest Holmes wrote: "We are in the world and of it and it is good that it is so. The world is all right when we view it correctly. Who knows what would transpire if all men would speak  the truth? It has never been tried, but let not the mouth of the profane hinder those who would enter, thereby keeping them from entering." 

The Science of Mind

What  Ernest Holmes meant is when we resolutely see Love everywhere, see every person as capable and able, we start to see the Creative Process unfolding. Then we see Peace and Prosperity as the desired outcomes even in war and stealth. When people know better they will do better.

I have earned this about myself through the Co-Creation process. There will be things in my life that I have done repeatedly, looking for something good and the opposite happens. For instance I might want Joy in my life but if I am planting the seed of death and the strategy of hiding, I will experience sadness or chaos, the opposite to what I do want. Once I release my belief in death and my need to hide, I can be grateful for the Joy I Am.  I plant the seed of death every time I accept the belief that something won't work out, that some part of my life could crumble apart and die. It is untrue that God could ever crumble apart and die. Therefore it is true for me and you because we are made in the image and likeness of the Divine.