Category: Peace

Posted on

Peace in the midst of it all.

1887638Peace is an inner thing, a feeling, and a knowing that, above all else, you are alright.

Beyond that, to me, Peace is the inner knowing that I am loved. That, above all else, there is something in me, call it a life force, that is eternal and will live on for longer than I can ever imagine.

I know and feel this, because even our bodies don’t cease to be. Their form changes back to the basic elements, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, but it doesn’t just disappear and evaporate into nothing. And our soul, or consciousness, becomes free and returns to the ethers. I say ethers, because until it happens, it is the unknown. I don’t believe it is to be feared, although many do, because they don’t understand it. Their faith or trust in the universe hasn’t grown that awareness of the Oneness of all life. You can better understand by more consciously observing the natural world.

But, do not look at the natural world from an adversarial perception of life going extinct. That has been happening for millions of years. Look at it from the view of the eternal interconnectedness of life, and the constant cycle of living. Life is about living. Dying or transitioning, as some call it, is just a movement of life from one form to another.

So, if you’re open to it, embrace peace and begin to embrace life from a new understanding of the eternality of all things.

~revjim

#spirit-edu.com -Spirituality Online
#aworldthatworks

Posted on

God is God is God!

I shared this phrase not long ago online and was called “Satan Spawn.” I found that curious and somewhat perplexing from a Christian, as the God of the Christians into which I was born, evolved from the God of the Hebrews, and their God and the Bible stories evolved from the God of the Assyrians, and the God of the Muslims evolved through the same texts also. In fact our Bible in its present form was the product of the Council of Nicea, called by Emperor Constantine to bring all the minor Essene sects together as one under one religion governed by his empire. Religion has always been about control, not about the God of a religion. Religious differences and ambiguities have been the impetus for countless wars since man began to form tribes and socio-economic groups. Muslims, Jews, Protestants and Catholics, Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus and others: religion still pervades governments and drives divisions within governments.

Fortunately for the world, as the centuries go by, ignorance and smallness has given way to reason, and the divide is shrinking as religious zealots become fewer and fewer. When will the many names for God be universally accepted by all? Maybe, when greed and self-aggrandizement no longer hides behind its moniker.

~revjim

#spirit-edu.com
#aworldthatworks

Posted on

Let go of the old ideas that don’t Serve

16387098_866973246739648_7200885523602195387_n

Have you ever taken a chance? Have you ever thought about doing something that was so beyond anything you’d ever done before that it scared the hell out of you?

The rush you felt, that exhilaration, was not just the adrenaline rush of fear, anxiety, and the unknown, it was Spirit filling your once empty soul, as the new that’s entering your conscious awareness, becomes aware that you are aware of It.

Peace is.

~jtstarke
#spirit-edu.com
#aworldthatworks

Posted on

What is Salvation?

993150_30225139“It is not only our hatred of others that is dangerous but also and above all our hatred of ourselves: particularly that hatred of ourselves which is too deep and too powerful to be consciously faced. For it is this which makes us see our own evil in others and unable to see it in ourselves.”
-New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton

Long ago, I used to prayer to God to deliver me from evil. I never knew then that the deliverance was from my own self. As I move into union with my higher self, I hold the memory who I thought I was to keep centered on my journey to wholeness.

~jtstarke
#spirit-edu.com  #aworldthatworks

Posted on

Practicing the Presence

1957904We are always “in the presence.” What do I mean by that? Being a spiritual person, I believe in God. You can call it Buddha, Mohammed, Great Spirit, Elohim, Divine Source, universal Love, Source Vibration, Divine Impulse, the energetic vibration of the universe, self, or whatever works for you.

The problem is, as mere mortals with all sorts of “stuff” going on in our lives, both good and bad by our judgment, we tend to edge “The Presence” out in lieu of other more important or more pressing things. How strange…

What could be more important in our life than our health, prosperity and happiness? And what ultimately ensures this? Could it be our relationship with ourself? Isn’t the basis of a superior relationship with ourself, “Love?” And, if as Jesus says, “Seek the kingdom of God within you,” then, in order to “practice the presence,” we must first and foremost seek what we need within ourselves, by seeking our own counsel. When we seek our own counsel, we must discard all that does not equate with Love in order to “practice the presence.”

So, can we “practice the presence” all the time? Absolutely. As long as we are consciously “in love” we are ‘Practicing the Presence.” Try it some time, when all around you seems chaotic and crazy; just be.

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

Posted on

God has a sense of humor.

Thomas Merton says that “we know Him (God) in so far as we are known by Him.”

Pool Table Billiard BallsI experienced this connection with Spirit on occasion in my thirties in a humorous way. God apparently enjoys an occasional game of pool. The first time I experienced this connection, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but it affected me deeply. The game started as it usually does, with the break. We play that we must call all our banks and combinations of balls used on the table to sink our intended shots. After the break, which is always a “smash and bash” for me, just spreading out the balls across the table, my opponent took his turn and sank four balls.

My next shot was a bank shot the full length of the table bringing the cues back to sink a ball in the corner pocket. As I viewed the shot and the sweet spot, my tinnitus disappeared, and my sight became truly blindered to blot out everything but the shot. As I pulled back on the stick to connect with the ball,I actually felt some restraint in my follow through of the shot limiting more than I would the power with which I connected with the cue ball. The shot was perfect and the leave for the subsequent shot was also spot on. This continued as I mouthed the calling of my shots right up to the 8 ball. As I ran the table, I felt a flush in my face. My opponent was silent up to that point, a bit dumbfounded, I suppose, as was I in retrospect. When he realized “I” was about to run the table, he came over and gave me a big Pat on the back of congratulations. Everything returned to normal, and I missed the 8 ball shot.

He then ran the rest of the table, which was more usual, and I just sat there wondering what had just happened. It happened a few more times over the next few years, and I really enjoyed being the observer of the pool game “I” was playing. I have experienced things like this in different ways during my life, but I always enjoyed the experience of God playing pool through me.

Today, much in the same way as my pool experience, I experience the same “presence” when I am in prayer. It is truly a humbling experience.