Category: freedom

Posted on

Our Liberty and Freedom are Found Within

“No powers external to us can operate in our consciousness or upon our lives except by our ignorance of spiritual truth, spiritual identity, and the fact that freedom isn’t a physical thing; it’s a spiritual entity.”
”Freedom is not a condition of mind or body. Freedom is a condition of the Soul. If we do not find our freedom in Soul, we will find only limitation and bondage in our experience.”
~ Joel Goldsmith, The Government of Eden

 

In our humanity, eyes open wide, we see ourselves as separate, individual, trying our best to move through our day, trying to make sense of all that is going on around us.

But as we turn within, as we move into our Godness, everything begins to come together as One. One thought, Love. One body, I AM. One mind, God. As we allow ourselves to journey into the soul of us, into the soul of life, we begin to vanish and all that is not God falls away.

Pure Love at the Center of Soul takes us, has Its way with us, envelops us. It is in this Love that the chaos outside us cannot enter. This calm, this Love fills us, each of us with the Word of God, IAM. In I AM there is no other, only One, all life known and unknown, all things join together as One, God.

In this place is our essence, our being, our compassion and our passion, consumed in Love, held in Love, always.

I allow It to consume me, to absorb me consciously into Itself. I give up my life to God. I sit in nothingness, helpless, Loving It.

In this moment I am reborn, whole, complete and perfect, recognizing there is no separation, and there never was. I am free now, filled anew and liberated. As I return to my body and this plane, I know I am governed only by my inner thoughts. As I sit in this Love I am made anew, filled in the Word, and freed of the worry, the fear and knowing God is my constant companion and my Beloved.

Saying I Am grateful seems shallow. I am freed. I am Loved. Thank you, God. Thank you.

And so it is in my world. . . and can be in yours.

Thank you, Joel!

 

~revjim

Posted on

Everything is a Choice and We Each Have the Freedom to Choose.

“Freedom is a condition of the Soul. As we turn to the kingdom of our inner Self, we find the reign of divine Power in the outer world. As we seek peace within, we find harmony without.”

~Joel Goldsmith, The Art of Meditation

 

freedom-insideFreedom is something we all search for. Freedom of religion, freedom to be who we’d like to be, freedom from abuse, freedom to choose certain things in our life, freedom to feel the equality we are supposed to have. But, as we all find out: in this world today, these ideals are not easily attained by all.

In a world that we would like to work for everyone, most people never experience this ideal, because they have expectations for those who don’t have the limiting beliefs for others that they do. We, in general, are unwilling to allow people to be different from us. We don’t live up to their expectations. Most can’t, because of biases held by those who would persecute them.

Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, seen as the founder of the Christian religion, said many things that, if actually embraced by Christianity, would go a long way to healing the the ills of the world. Jesus is/was also embraced as a teacher and prophet in Judaism and Islam, but today “jihad” which literally means striving or struggling, especially with a praiseworthy aim, has been usurped by Islamists to justify the destruction of Christian world, which has attempted to eliminate Muslims for over a thousand years.

Even Christianity from its humble, love filled beginnings, was used by the world rulers to pacify the masses and control them. Alexander the Great and the Council of Nicaea chose what books to include in the Bible and attempted to eliminate the remainder by making the Bible decreed by them to be the official text of Christianity. From there, the Roman Catholic “empire” ruled with an iron fist eliminating anyone they didn’t like during the inquisition. It was a dark time for humanity.

The point to all of this is to bring into the light how religion has created more division than love since its inception.

In spite of this, we each have the option to be personally free in any situation simply by choosing not to dictate our todays and tomorrows by our past. Freedom is a state of mind. Auschwitz survivor, Victor Frankl chose to forgive his captors, even while everyone around him was dying, saying “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Similarly, Nelson Mandela chose freedom in his own way, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

Both of these men surmounted all their fears with the courage to see beyond the appearance of hopelessness to not only achieve their freedom, but also to tell their stories to the world and in Nelson Mandela’s case to become the president of South Africa and end Apartheid.

Lest you think they are exceptions, there are thousands of people every day that we never hear of that have overcome adversity and gained freedom from oppressive relationships, addiction, poverty and much more.

So never stop believing that you too can move beyond the beliefs that others have directed toward you. Remember, self-love and forgiveness can free you from your past beliefs. As you begin to change your thoughts about yourself and others, your life will begin to take on new meaning, new direction, and greater self-empowerment.

 

“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose…”

~ performed by Janis Joplin, Songwriters: Fred L Foster / Kris Kristofferson

~revjim

© James T. Starke

Posted on

Raise Your Voice to Freedom!

“Raise a glass to freedom something they can never take away.”

~ Lin Manuel Miranda, Hamilton, the Musical

“To this day I believe we are here on earth to live, grow, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.”

~ Rosa Parks

“It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my people became a hunger for the freedom of all people.”

~ Nelson Mandela

 

We are so blessed today in comparison to a few centuries ago and even a few years ago, but there is still so much to be done, both spiritually and in the spirit of conscious activism, because, as far as we have come, there is still so much more to do before we live in #aWorldThatWorksForEveryone.

So, please know with me, that this finite and fragile space we choose to call reality, though it may be an illusion, and seems built on the suffering of many, is our testing ground, of perseverance and our faith that something bigger than us, bigger than all of us, guides us to an ever higher, ever more loving and inclusive existence here on this plane.

By our acknowledgment and recognition, however transitory or fleeting of a divine source or energy behind all things, we raise the energy of the planet. So, right here and right now I say, Raise a voice to freedom! Raise your thoughts to the ever higher idea and ideal of the indestructible GOOD in, through and as everything and everyone and know, as I do, that love the ultimate good, is that force which can never be diminished or destroyed.

Know that our actions in everything we do, say, feel, and think moves us on this complexly, interwoven path to nirvana, to peace, to love, to God. And, as we wind along this path, we are ever blessed by our instruction along the way.

Gratitude is my only reward for this sometime wondrously challenging journey. I would have it no other way. I am grateful for all I learn from others and from my own words and actions, both intentional and unintentional.

Equally, I am grateful for each of you in my life as I move ever forward into a better version of me.

For each and everyone I. Say, Thank you Spirit, Thank you Spirit, Thank you Spirit.

I know this is so right now, and so it is. Amen.

“We must strive to be moved by a generosity of spirit that will enable us to outgrow the hatred and conflicts of the past.” – Nelson Mandela

Blessings to you all.

 

revjim  #Peace & #Love

Posted on

Who are we?

flag-stamp“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

When I was a kid, we used to say this every morning in school, and, for those New Englanders who grew up in the fifties and went home for lunch every day from elementary school and were lucky enough to watch Big Brother Bob Emery at noon, we toasted the then President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the American flag with a glass of milk. Then we had lunch and returned to school.

The “under God” was added one year after I began reciting the pledge, but because we have always been a nation of diverse faiths and numerous variations of a deity, we didn’t specify a particular religious institution or faith. In fact, the foundation of this nation was religious freedom, and, while there has unfortunately been discrimination against people and/or their religious beliefs, the clause “liberty and justice for all”, which references the constitutional rights of ALL our peoples, has always reigned supreme against any overt actions to the contrary.

So, how could we allow ourselves to come to this place where we ban whole countries access to experience what we have for so many years.

Are we going to allow our freedoms to be taken away? Make no mistake, these are OUR FREEDOMS that are being attacked and diminished!

Even more insidious is the fact that only Muslim countries in which the President’s companies don’t do business have been singled out. Worse yet is the fact that the Muslim countries that aren’t banned are the ones that most of the terrorists have come from.

Islam shares the same Old Testament that we do, with the addition of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed. It is a religion of Peace. It is founded in Love. Jesus is considered a teacher or prophet in Islam. It is the politicization of Islam, which foments war and hate, much in the same way the Christian Right in this country has politicized Christianity. Why are we not living by Jesus’ words and deeds as Christians?

The basic tenets of all religions are the self-discovery of our divinity and discovering love for all humanity, and learning how to become stewards for all its peoples and the planet.

When will we move beyond the love of money and power to begin to care for everyone? When will we begin to embrace our divinity, so that we can embrace our love for humanity as a nation and as a planet?

~revjim

#spirit-edu.com -Spirituality Online
#aworldthatworks
Spirit Education is a CSL Authorized Virtual Education Provider

#notwhoweare

#aworldthatworksforall

Posted on

Embrace Life and Live It, No Matter What!

beyond-fearThis life is finite and goes from “dust to dust” as Kathleen Dowling Singh, the author of “The Grace in Aging” shares. She also calls it, “Diapers to diapers.” We can’t escape it. We can suffer through it or move beyond the fear, accept and embrace the period we have left to us, and live it to the fullest. Live beyond the fear of dying, of being in-valid. “To ripen into an elder, into a being that is more than simply elderly and more than only self, is a deliberate, thoughtful, sustained choice that arises from the intention to see things as they are.”

~revjim

#spirit-edu.com -Spirituality Online
#aworldthatworks
Spirit Education is a CSL Authorized Virtual Education Provider

Grace in Aging class starts September 18th

Posted on

What is the contemplative experience?

merton-to be“WE do not see God in contemplation—we know Him by love: for He is pure Love and when we taste the experience of loving God for His own sake alone, we know by experience Who and what He is.”  ~Thomas Merton, “New Seeds of Contemplation,” pg. 268

~rev jim
www.spirit-edu.com/learn/  “New Seeds of Contemplation”
Online Spiritual Education
#peace   #aworldthatworks
Spirit Education is an authorized CSL Virtual Education Provider

Posted on

Change your Life

merton07Why change? There are numerous reasons to change one’s life. Most of them boil down to you’re not happy with your life in its present state.

So how do you change it? You change your thinking. You change the way you look at things. By things, I mean your life, your friends, your job, your life experiences.

The first thing you might want to do is, “lose the story of who hurt you or the many things that have led up to where you are now.” Why? Because, unless you allow it to, your past has no power over you today! Even if you were presently in jail, you have the choice of thinking that your life is over. It may be forever changed, but that’s all right. Life is in constant change, and yes, your life may be “on hold” while incarcerated, but every day leading up to your release, you can work on how you can build something new and good for yourself, when you get out.

Those who are not in jail can start right now, in this moment! Be ready to change a lot of things, depending on your life and surroundings. Change can be easy, but usually not. It is though, way more rewarding than staying in an untenable situation. If it’s not working for you, it’s untenable!

Take a leap of faith. You could create the life of your dreams! How great would that be?

-rev jim
www.spirit-edu.com
Merton study, coming soon
#aworldthatworks