Category: Love

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A monthly prayer for August 2021

I haven’t previously shared my prayers beyond the CSL minister’s group. I don’t know why. I am part of a group that shares a prayer on a specific day monthly throughout the year, and I’ve done so for many years. Take it in, if it works for you. –rev jim

 

The mind which was in Christ Jesus is your mind and my mind, and when we have broken through this human exterior of mind and, through meditation, have contacted the Source, we are then one with the spiritual mind of the universe, which is the mind of the Buddha, of Jesus, of Lao-tse, and the mind of every spiritual saint and seer.
~Joel Goldsmith, A Parenthesis in Eternity

Everything, that ever has been, is, or has the potential to come forth in future times, exists in the ethers right now. While we see time as linear, that is only the human experience. All the great minds have tapped into that every=flowing knowledge which is within each of us waiting to be tapped just as a maple tree is tapped to bring forth maple syrup.

And, as I move into the space of Love, God’s space, I know that Love flows through us into our experience as we, as I am willing to allow that love to touch me and to become my experience.

I open the door to my heart to beat, to feel, to break wide open that Spirit may allow me to experience the ecstasy of Its presence moving in, through, and as me.

I loose from within me any feelings that may come up that would keep me from allowing the wellspring of Spirit to burst forth and render what has been me to dissolve into the nothingness and bring forth a rebirth a feeling that God, in me, as me and through me, truly is me.

In this place, I am peace. I am love. I am compassion. I am the diverse nature of the universe. I am free. And, I am grateful.

With all this, I am at peace in knowing that All Power Resides in God, and I rest in this thought, knowing it is true.

And so it is. Amen.

Somewhere in consciousness there lies a land undiscovered, a land not yet revealed by religion, philosophy, or science. I know that it exists for it continually pushes itself into my awareness. I know that when it discloses itself, it will change the nature of mankind: wars will be no more, and the lamb will lie down with the lion.
~Joel Goldsmith, A Parenthesis in Eternity

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The light always shines…

light-shinesAs I sit here, having just completed God knows how many Sunday Meditations as Spirit Education, I continue to be immersed in Rev’s Christies Snow and Jack Fowler’s album, Melt into Nothingness. It seems to keep time to my heart and ground me to earth and spirit at the same time. It is in these melodic sounds of the Native American flute that I lose myself in the Divine. How could it be otherwise?

So, join me now, as we move deeper into the full expression of Spirit as the light seems to have left us in the East and moved ever westward as it encircles this big, blue marble suspended so divinely in the heavens.

Move within and connect your heartstrings to the murmurs of the Divine in the music. Allow, just allow the Spirit of the Christ Consciousness to be the lightness with which you are carried through the dark of night, and know that the light never dwindles or wanes, it only moves slowly, imperceptibly through the heavens, and peeks its head around the globe, even in the darkness by its pure and unrelenting, loving relationship with the moon, sharing that even in the darkest moments there is hope. Just as Jesus said, “I AM the light of the world,” so are we, each of us, a light unto the world.

As I begin to embrace this and dive into the depth of this statement, I know that I Am a blessing to the world. We are a blessing to the world. You are a blessing to the world.

Thank you Spirit for feeling I AM THAT I AM, and by the grace of God I am fulfilled and complete always.

Amen. And so it is.

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Self-Love

Know that you are the most important person in your life. Love yourself. Be gentle with yourself. Treat yourself better than you would your best friend. because that’s who you are. Love yourself passionately. Give to yourself first of all good things.

Then, whatever you’ve given yourself of Love, work earnestly to give that
same self to others.

Know the Peace you are and that’s what others will see in you, and as you.
Know that beauty which lies within always. You have an aura of grace about you.

Allow that to show through always. It is in your voice and your eyes that your love comes through. I know that this is the truth for you.

~ revjim

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from the heart . . . from you

Prayer is the one thing that can make a change in your life. If you will go direct to God in simple, affirmative prayer, you can heal your body, bring peace and harmony into your life, and make well-being a reality.Paint splatter heart
– Emmet Fox, Around the Year, January 10

O God, give me light in my heart and light in my tongue
and light in my hearing and light in my seeing and light
in my feelings and light in every part of my body and light
before me and light behind me. Give me, I beg you,
light on my right hand and light on my left hand and light
above me and light beneath me. O Lord, make light grow
within me and give me light and illuminate me.
-The Prophet Muhammad, from Light the Flame- 365 days of Prayer Andrew Harvey- January 11

“It is not so important how we pray, but from where we pray. Thank you can be enough. I Love You, says it all, and in the silence is the recognition of the infinitude of divine source.”1

From wherever we are -I am- in this moment, I say Thank you! I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of God, except in nature, which is always forgiving, always moving forward, in spite of my errors or successes. Nature is the perfect, unfolding instrument, nay, example of the divine, Mankind, its social experiment.

So, I turn within, and with outstretched hands, I surrender to the will of the divine with faith that Its presence in each of us, the divine within, percolates to the surface as a loving expression of that divinity, offering up new possibility, new direction, and greater transparency in all our institutions and leaders everywhere.

I sit in the silence with only my breath and the beat of my heart and am grateful first and foremost for just that. From that place of gratitude, I know this same breath and beat is repeated 7 billion times a second, maintaining humanity as each of us tries to figure it all out.

I complete my prayer knowing love, compassion, joy and equanimity flows through each emanation of God in Its own time.

In gratitude for this knowing, I move into the flow of life, allowing God to do Its work, and know that it is so.

And so it is.

 

1 Jim Starke

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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

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Just a Happy Idiot, part 1

“I’m going to be a happy idiot and struggle for the legal tender.”
The Pretender, Jackson Browne

 

What’s wrong with this picture?

jester600Well, first of all, for all the years I’ve listened to and sung along with this song, I’ve sung it wrong according to the excerpt from the lyrics above.

It’s important to note here that I am the kind of person that intentionally makes up my own lyrics to songs, but in this case, I just heard what I wanted to hear here, apparently.

I’ve always jokingly referred to myself as “a jerk of all trades, master of none” even though I’ve managed to excel at most everything I’ve done in my life. Again, this is my own personal opinion, which may differ from someone else’s truth of me. I’ve also had a healthy skepticism of my own and others thoughts, preferring to follow my own discerning nature.

And life has been good. So, you’re saying, “What’s up with this post about these old lyrics?”

Well, the way I’ve always heard and sung this verse of The Pretender through my somewhat unique filter is “I’d rather be a happy idiot, than struggle for the legal tender.” And this blends easily with my philosophy that life shouldn’t be hard, and, if it is, I’m doing something wrong. This really equates for me, “if I do what I love, it’ll never be work.” I’ve followed that exclusively since 1978 and without exception, I have had what I would call a blessed life.

A couple of caveats to this are, I’ve also been my own boss all this time, and while I have never wanted for anything, my success has never been personally measured by my salary, money in the bank or how much my businesses were valued at, but more in the value of the services I gave and the happiness or joy people felt from what I built, sold or shared with them.

So, Yes, I’d rather be a happy idiot, than struggle for the legal tender. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I guess at this point it’s a moot point, but I’m still doing what I love and reaping the rewards of the journey this life has offered me in my soon to be 71 years.

Would I do it differently if I had it all to do over again? Not really. It’s been a great ride. The highs, the lows, the successes and the learning experiences have all shown me that there are always alternatives, new ways and directions one can go to change one’s life experience, if one finds their present path isn’t working for them or leads them to another possibility.

Life is good.

Part 2 coming soon.

revjim

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Love matters

one-heartWe all have one heart
And one heart needs another
Love, love is all that matters
Love is all that matters, it matters after all.
~ Diana Ross, Love is all that Matters

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

What if Christ is a name for the immense spaciousness of all true Love?
~ Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ

Love, what do we make of it?

I know this. Love is that all encompassing, all knowing and everywhere present presence of Love, which lives deep in the heart of each and every one of God’s creations, every one and thing in this infinite universe. This truth knows no limits, only individuals in separation, and separation is never whole or complete and is therefore ultimately subservient to Love.

As I bring this into consciousness, I know that Love always comforts the afflicted and afflicts those who are complacent and comfortable in whatever truth they tell themselves, which is not in alignment with Love.

So, I know for each of us who seeks or shares truth can expect and embrace the uncomfortable nature of the truth which Love exposes in our world and continue to speak their truth.

That truth is ever present in the teachings of all the great master teachers, but none so clear or misinterpreted as “The Great Commandment,” “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Matthew 22:36-39)

In this knowing “Love thy neighbor as thyself, we can only grow as individuals, as ministers, as an organization and above all in the One Heart.

I am grateful in this truth and in Love and just continue to allow it to be in my life and know it therefore for each and all in the One Heart, One World, and One Eternal, Spiritual life.

~revjim

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Make a Joyful Noise

“By following through on conscious choices, we can rewire our responses toward love, trust, and patience. Neuroscience calls this ‘neuroplasticity.’”

~Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ

 

I watched a video by Jane Goodall this morning on YouTube called Mother Earth (https://youtu.be/48mxaQtbUdU) in which she spoke about the interdependency of all life on the planet. She spoke of how we, as a species have single-handedly in the last 100 years (my words) have managed to cause and continue to cause the mass extinction of many species of flora and fauna by not being the good stewards of the earth (again, my words) and have instead allowed or contributed to the destruction by either our direct participation or silence while it was allowed.

She spoke of how we have left a dire legacy to our children and the children of future generations.

Richard Rohr, in “The Universal Christ” speaks of how our brain can be rewired toward Love. It is my hope for the world and for humanity that the mindset of those who have the power in their hands to help all life thrive will come to the realization before it is too late to set aside their myopic views of this world and see beyond their coffers of riches reaped to understand their unconscious contributions to the imminent destruction of the planet, and know that their wildly excessive riches will turn their coffers into their coffins as well. If the planet dies, they die also.

There is no place to hide and without biodiversity, there is no future.

So, how do we change or reverse this trend or tendency? If we could learn too follow the tenets of the master teacher Jesus, the Christ Consciousness which he speaks to in “Love thy neighbor as thyself” could take us from triumphing over those who seem different from us to embracing all persons regardless of color, ethnicity, religion, politics or any other thing external to us. Our heart is the organ that can save us, if we but learn to control our ego, which keeps us separate from all of our good.

In doing so, we can begin to feel our connection with others and recognize the rights of everyone to a good and fruitful life. We must learn to live without the excesses we are used to. We need to stop promoting “Us before Them” and move into an “Us and them” or We’re all in this together” attitude.

Every religion in its purest, mystical form teaches that “Love is the Way.” This is the One commandment of Jesus, the gist of the teachings of Buddha, one of the core commandments of Judaism, and the basis of the teachings of Rumi and the other mystics of Islam. In addition, compassion is the “most fluently occurring word in the Quran.” In fact, at the center of the Muslim beliefs is the principle of “Oneness.”

If all this is really true, and in theory it is, then the only thing holding us back from embracing “LOVE” is “FEAR.” Fear of being less than! But, less than what?

If we are “LOVE,” we are not less than anything. We are then, what God is, and we have nothing to fear, only Joy to accept.

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” Psalm 100:1 (a bible book common to all 3 major Western religions)

~revjim

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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

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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