Category: prayer

Posted on

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

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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

Posted on

I Burn for your Peace.

This morning was the World Healing Meditation. I wish to thank everyone that was with us either in person or consciousness.

Thank You!5003-1

Just after I got off the call, I read my daily reading from Fr. Richard Rohr, and had to share this quote he used from Augustine of Hippo, from his work, “Confessions”

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace. —Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

 

Much Love.

jim

Posted on

Wholemaking through the “Eat, Pray, Love” Method of Jesus

jesus-mary1Everything that Jesus did, said or taught was meant to activate and actualize his experience of the Divine, of bringing Ultimate Reality to the physical plane, and to show us how to “become whole” when we enter Heart consciousness.
We are not Beings, we are “Becomings”
“We are not fatally flawed creatures, just incomplete.”
This is the message of healing, salvation, and freedom

~revjim

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

 

Posted on

Personal Peace can rock your world

meditation-peaceAre you at peace where you are right now? It’s a fair question, because, even if you don’t see yourself as the success you had hoped to be by now, or you’re not sure of your ultimate direction, but you can be at peace in the present moment, then you are in a peaceful place.

When you don’t allow your circumstances to rule your roost, you can be much more open to the possibility of change, when it tries to run you over. And, maybe you can hitch a ride rather than take a ride to the emergency room when it hits you unawares!

~revjim

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

Grace in Aging class starts September 18th Online
International Day of Peace Meditation September 21st
We’re having a Zoominar September 28th
1st Century Mystics October 4th

Posted on

On Being Happy

be-happy“Happiness is a contagion which could lead to viral happiness and smiles and actually create peace all around you.” ~jts

Everything in our life is a choice and how we choose determines how we see our life.

Are you happy?

Or, do you wake in the morning and wonder “What’s going to go wrong today?” Do you fear that things that haven’t happened yet will? Do you feel that something bad is going to happen to you, and you don’t even have any reason to feel that way, beyond an offhand comment you heard or a news reporting the radio?

Psychologists refer to F.E.A.R as an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. I love that. It amazes me how often we fall into this mode of thinking, me included. We really limit ourselves when we allow some future “maybe”may occur for us, bad or good, and that our future is totally out of our control. The truth is that most of the things that happen to us are a product of our thinking. If we think the world is basically a dangerous and unloving place, that is what we tend to see. If we believe the world is basically a good and safe place to live, this is what we tend to see.

Can we control everything that happens to us? No. Most of the things that aren’t under our control are remote occurrences and almost silly to think about. The chances of your house burning down, or getting into an accident or most other things are so small that they really are False Evidence Appearing Real. Something like a bombing is astronomically small. They are also external things to us.

Our real control is in our day to day lives, our personal choices. We have virtually 100% control over those. How we eat. Is it healthy? How we spend our money. Do we choose frivolous things we’ll never use? In business, do we make informed choices, or do we see a resurgence of the “pet rock” or “Beanie Babies?”

There are many benefits of choosing to be happy. The first is that smiling not only makes us feel better, it also helps cheer others up. Smiling is contagious. Happiness is a contagion which could lead to viral happiness and smiles and actually create peace all around you. Imagine how much more you might attract into your life by just changing your primary thought to being happy when you wake up n the morning.

I have always, as long as I can remember, woke up and greeted the dawn with a hearty in-breath, a big smile and, most of the time, a statement to the sun, of how grand life is and how blessed I am to be a part of it! I also intentionally interact with people in public and give them a glance and a smile, and sometimes even a quick greeting, if they actually make eye contact with me. In small towns people are more willing to engage you, than they are in the “big city.”

Still, all in all, being happy leads to you wanting to take better care of your body, mind and spirit. Leaving out any one of these things can lead to you, or me, from being in harmony with our own self and lead us into that quagmire of unhappiness and a pronounced frown.

Did you know it takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown. That alone is a good reason to smile.

~revjim

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

Grace in Aging class starts September 18th Online

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