The Same Dream Twice

I am doing something completely different this month for my Sunday messages. I am basing them on the novel, The Alchemist.

This novel is an allegory about life and contains many spiritual treasures. 

It begins with the shepherd boy, Santiago, who has had the same dream twice. The dream is about finding treasure in the pyramids of Egypt.

He finds two different people to help him interpret his dream, a gypsy woman and an old man. The old man tells him, 

"To realize your destiny is a person's only obligation. And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

The first question that comes to mind is, what does it mean to have a recurring dream? Metaphysically, it means  Subconscious Mind is telling you to pay attention. there is something of value in that dream. Look beyond the literal meaning. Ask yourself what the dream means to you. Only you can determine what it means even though it is often tempting to go to an outside "expert." 

The second question that arises for me is am I living my life's purpose? Am I living my dream now or am I moving toward it? If I am living my dream, excellent! If I am moving toward it, good. But if I am trying to ignore it, then I am working against my highest good.

My most passionate dream is to awaken people to their spiritual magnificence. When I see the light of awareness dawn in someone's eyes, I feel deeply blessed. I feel that my life is on purpose.

Have their been times that I have been discouraged and thought about finding a different dream? Yes, there have been times that I have been discouraged, but no, I cannot think of anything else I would rather do or am compelled to do. 

Have I had to take risks in order to live my dream? Yes, many risks. When I was first called to the ministry, I had more needs than income. I cashed in my retirement savings. That was a big risk on the human level but on the spiritual level, I know that God is my Source and the source of my supply. 

 "And when you want something, the Universe conspires in helping you achieve it."

What are the dreams of your heart? Are you living your divine purpose? There is an alchemist within you; it is ready to transform your life, when you cooperate with it.

ONCE UPON A LIFETIME

To my spiritual family...

There is no closing door that can refuse Life nothing that can staunch Its movement.

It has forever been a river whose origin is Divine and it flows inexorably back to that Ocean.

Once upon a lifetime I believed I could hold each moment as an exquisite jewel, that the Universe was no longer expanding, and I expounded as a child, without vision or clarity.

I swam against the tides and waves and currents until, exhausted, my battered soul washed up on the shore of this blessed place and here I saw the face of Peace.

Even then did I still clutch at the smoke and sand that was my warped remembering.

I held in my hand the priceless pearl with only the merest glimmering of recognition.

Something pulled my consciousness and pushed me to pursue the connection between thought and that which is thought of; in that process I discovered Love.

This was, and continues to be an unfoldment that has no real beginning, and it is the thread of an infinite tapestry that has no borders.

As it unfurls, my world grows ever greater.

Every corner turned is an adventure for me now.

I sail through storms and float in waking dreams knowing that all uncertainty is spoken for by the Mind and Power that has gifted me with life.

Now do I see that wall, once formidable and tall is an ever-opening portal to the real Thing, and every answer I seek, when found, begs another question, forever and ever.

My realization is that explanations explain nothing and that the voyage to knowledge and wisdom is endless, that the impermanence of human life makes it all the sweeter.

And the only thing of true import in this temporality is Love Itself.

And here I have found that Love in forms and ideas, in people, and in the inspired doing that is music.

It is the compassion and caring that carries all lovers through.

It is the force of creation that makes all things new.

This is my home; this the well from which I draw that which quenches me.

This is my family; you are the ones who lift me from my darkness.

And these are they who gently hold my love, that I will not fly away.

God is here, and all of you are His face and Her grace.

-Written by Rick Dale, Singer/Songwriter/Poet

Life is a Story

I just finished reading Life of Pi an amazing story about a young boy and a Bengal tiger surviving on a life raft for seven months. Months ago I saw the movie and was struck by how spiritual it was, but is wasn't until reading the book I truly understood how spiritual it is. It has helped me appreciate the Divine Mystery once more.

Near the beginning of the novel, an old man  tells the narrator that he had a story...



 "...that will make you believe in God.
I stopped waving my hand. But I was suspicious. Was this s Jehovah's Witness knocking at my door? "Does your story take place two thousand years ago in a remote corner of the Roman empire?" I asked.
"No."
Was he some sort of Muslim evangelist? "Does it take place in seventh century Arabia?"
"No. no. It starts right here in Pondicherry just a few years back..."

By the end of the novel, I was convinced that the nature of God, not as a magical Presence who interfered in the natural order of things, but of God as Love, Life and full self-expression. The Divine Mystery that is greater than the sum of its parts.

I believe in God. I believe that God is greater than any words can ever articulate, infinite in nature and scope
.
Last Sunday, Dr. Jim Lockard explored the question of the nature of God in his inspirational talk, Defining God. Truly we are reminded that the nature of God is not some old man who whimsically dishes out good or evil based on his changing whims or for no reason at all. Dr. Jim reminded us that the awe-inspiring nature of the Divine is Its activity through us, through our self-assessment, our beliefs, our passion. He also reminded us that our lives are the reflection of our own acceptance of the nature of God.

Now, the story of Pi, on a life raft with a Bengal tiger, did not bring me to the same conclusions. In this story, both in the movie and in the novel, I felt that Pi's Spiritual Experience, (he defined himself as a Hindu, Christian, Muslim), was one of feeling the Presence of Transcendent Love. His faith was based on a Deity, outside himself, who kept him alive  for seven months in a very dangerous situation. He believed in a transcendent God that was outside himself. He had faith in God. The story was about courage, choices, perceptions and love.

Ernest Holmes writes: " Why must we believe? Because God is belief. God is belief, and belief is Law, and Law produces form, in substance. When Jesus explained to his disciples that they had failed to heal because of a lack of faith, they protested that they did have faith in God. Jesus explained to them that this was insufficient; they must have the faith of God. The faith of God is very different from a faith in God. The faith of God IS God, and somewhere along the line of our spiritual evolution this transition will gradually take place, where we shall cease having faith IN and shall have faith OF.Always in such degree as this happens, a demonstration takes place." SOM 317

The charming story of Pi is also about how one perceives or discerns the circumstances and events of his or her life. It is a story of unbelievable courage living on a small life-raft with a dangerous Bengal tiger. Or it may be a story about a devout vegan Hindu boy whose life circumstances brought him in close proximity with bestial danger, and the choices he made to survive. At the end of the novel, people are questioning Pi about his story and asking him to tell what really happened. Pi responds,"Isn't telling about something --- using words, English or Japanese -- already something of an invention? Isn't just looking upon this world already something of an invention?" Then he went on to say, "The world isn't just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it, no"? Doesn't that make life a story?"

Yes. Indeed, it is our understanding OF life that determines our experience of it! I know that that understanding grows as we evolve spiritually. What is your understanding of Life? of God? 

I believe in Love, when I see the evidence of it. I see Love when my heart is full of Love.

How do you define God? Do you have faith IN God? or do you have the faith OF God?