admin, Author at Beyond Spirit Education

February 26, 2018

Oh Woe Is Me?

“We will never get anywhere unless we can accept the fact that politics is an inextricable tangle of good and evil motives in which, perhaps, the evil predominate but where one must continue to hope doggedly in what little good can still be found”.

Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, Pg. 116

Life is full of perceived good and evil. Every day we make choices in how we live our lives. We can get caught up in our emotions about all the things that are happening in the world and try to effect change in a haphazard way or worse yet, allow ourselves become emotional basket cases, whereby we become useless to ourselves and those we thought we might be able to help.

Instead of this self-destructive route, we could take pause, first to see how these things we think have so affected us to make us this way by looking at the bigger picture, and ask, “How has my life really changed since that thing happened?” “Can I see this as a lesson in some way that will make me stronger, or do I just give in to fear, and allow this thing to define me.”

Remember, things have no power, except the power we give them of ourselves.

-rev jim starke

spirit-edu.com

January 30, 2018

Season for Peace & Non-Violence and Love

Today marks the beginning of the Associated Global New Thought’s Season for Peace & Non-Violence.

I would live to see us all begin to embody this thought, but I am powerless to make it happen, in so much as, I cannot force anyone to desire this or want this to be the norm, which it is not.

Everywhere you turn, people are messing with the peace of individuals, communities, cities, states, nations, and even the planet.

If we were to take to heart and begin to embody the teachings of Jesus (Love), or Buddha (Love), Abraham (Love) or Muhammad (Love), and begin to truly “Love thy neighbor as thyself” and a God of our individual choosing, we would see profound changes all around us, beginning with ourselves.

If we viewed everything through the lens of L-O-V-E, we would begin to look at everything in a new light, because it would be new. Everything we thought we knew about people would change, because with love comes compassion, and with compassion comes empathy, and with empathy comes the realization that we are not really that different. All that was Black and White turns to shades of gray, and our similarities begin to become more important than our differences.

Why?

Because, when we are loving someone we find ourselves in alignment with that person. We find we are more willing to understand what that person is saying, and while we may not agree with everything each of us says, we can accept their ideas as their own, because when we speak from Love, we speak our our thoughts from the heart. We say what we truly feel, and not someone else’s idea.

It is as if we are reborn, which ultimately we are, into a new me, you or us. Don’t get me wrong, Love can be messy at times, but, if there are no strings attached, it is always good.

So, on this, the first day of the 64 days of The Season for Peace & Non-Violence, tell someone you love them.

Pass this on to someone you care for.

-jim s #spirit-edu.com #aworldthatworksforeveryone

January 24, 2018

The Ego and Suffering

“The saint knows that the world and everything made by God is good, while those who are not saints either think that created things are unholy, or else they don’t bother about the question one way or another because they are only interested in themselves.” Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

In reading this statement, it made me think. If Merton believes this, how did he justify his need to rail against the conflict created by racism and war?

The answer came to me that these practices are ego driven and in direct opposition to the idea that we are all created in the i

mage and likeness of God, and each of us deserves to be respected and accepted as equal. It is the ego that makes anyone think that they are better than anyone else or that they deserve more than anyone else. It is this thinking which is responsible for the suffering in the world today.

~jts

January 8, 2018

As within, so without…

This phrase is Biblical in nature, or so I assumed. It turns out it’s a bit of Hermetic wisdom, or at least a paraphrase of “as above, so below…” It is still a great piece of wisdom to live by.

If you believe as I do that what you believe ultimately manifests in and as your life in one way or another, this phrase reinforces that premise. Sort of like the phrase “you are what you eat.” This of course means that if you eat until you drop, you get just that. Have you ever been to an “all you can eat” buffet? No only does the menu consist of a whole bunch of carbs, but so much of the menu is usually fried, which is also not good for you in excess. Have you ever seen anyone go to these buffets and only eat one plate?

Anyway, we all need to be mindful not only of what we eat, but also what we think. Our thoughts can be harmful to us. Depression is usually caused by our own thoughts or a continuing string of thoughts that create the downward spiral which puts us into a hole we can’t get out of by ourselves, if we’re not paying attention.

How can we keep this from happening? We need to pay attention to our thoughts. Be aware of what we are thinking and not dwell upon the things that we don’t want to have in our lives, whether they are people, places or things.

Are you paying attention?

~rev jim

www.spirit-edu.com

December 26, 2017

Truth Revisited

I find myself writing about truth and authenticity quite often. While I am speaking to “my truth” all of the time, there are certain truths that I hold to be true for everyone.

One such truth is “All men (and women) are created equal.” And then I realize that at this point in time and space, this is only my truth. It may be a belief that is held by many and it may be true, but until all peoples, everyone, believes this, it is not an absolute. Whether by sex, racism, religion, or for whatever other reason, it is not a universally held belief. So few things are held as universal truths. They may be universal within a group of people but not all.

It would not surprise me to one day hear that Gravity is not a universal truth on this planet. And there’s the kicker and the qualifying statement again, “on this planet.”

So, what this means to me is that I have my truths, which may be held by many others. They principles on which I live my daily life. My principles are not written in stone, but unless something dramatic in my life happens to change them and make me go, “Aha!”, they are beliefs I live by and my life works well, as long as I believe in these truths.

So, why do things not work sometimes? I believe it’s because I question what I hold as true for me. I fall back on comments of others, which may limit me by their unbelief. That’s why I always say, you may listen to others, but always follow your intuition or gut feeling.

So, what do you believe? Is it working for you? Are you open to a new thought or stuck trying to make someone else’s thought work?

If you’re not comfortable or can’t align with a particular thought, it is probably not for you. I’ve read a lot of books with a lot of advice, but I take every bit of it with a grain of salt. There may be a lot of truth in something, but I have to pick from it what works for me.

Just like the news… There’s always an element of truth within the ratings grabbing hype, but nothing or almost nothing can be accepted exactly as presented, because there is almost always someone’s agenda influencing what is written. Ego or our humanness demands it.

The bottom line is, we need to think for ourselves, inquire, research, and build our own idea of correctness, building on what we can already know as what is true for ourselves, without harming anyone else.

What is true for you?

from Love, in Peace,

~revjim

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from Love, in Peace,

~revjim

December 22, 2017

Self-Love or Narcissism

“If I asked you to name all the things that you love, how long would it take to name yourself?”

A Facebook friend recently responded about post image about self-love that she was afraid it sounded narcissistic if she stated that. I guess my direct comment would be, “yes, it would, if you would go around declaring that to everyone,” but what I feel is that self-love is the basis for loving others.

Narcissism is total lack of love for self and others. It’s really a self-loathing that out-pictures as, “It’s all about me” and what “I” do, and nothing about you. The individual is trying to convince themselves that they are a loving person and deserving of Love, because no one does. They usually believe that money, fame, notoriety, bombastic behavior, which always draws attention, are the behaviors that not only draw people to them, but also make people love them.

People are drawn to that type of behavior today, or at least it seems so. That’s most of what you see on the internet and the news, because it sells, and attracts “likes.” There are also other things that can attract “likes” beyond outrageous behavior and cat videos, Loving thoughts.

They’re not good press though. That’s why there is little success with websites about good news or loving thoughts, or at least less sharing of those sites.

Remember, Hate only begets more hate, but when you respond to hate with love it becomes disarmed. So, if you find yourself in the presence of outrageous behavior from someone, just send them love. You don’t need to embrace them with anything more than your mind, if you don’t feel inclined, but it can have a healing for you and you never know what it may do for the other person.

from Love, in Peace,

~rev jim starke

December 22, 2017